PDC Order of Merit

The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of the darts organisations, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded for performances in ranking tournaments.

Previous world ranking system

Under the previous ranking points system, Colin Lloyd was the world number one player in the PDC for most of 2005 and 2006, despite most of the major titles being shared between Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld and John Part. Although Lloyd also won two major titles, he often accumulated ranking points in the less prestigious non-televised events, in which Taylor did not always compete.

How it works

The Order of Merit is similar to that employed in golf's European Tour. Prize money won during the previous two seasons is calculated and the rankings are determined from this money list.

Player exemptions

The PDC rankings determine exemptions from the qualifying competitions from each major event.
The top 32 in early December get an automatic entry to the first round of the World Championship as a seeded player.
The top 16 in early July get an automatic entry to the first round of the World Matchplay as a seeded player.
The top 16 in early July get an automatic entry to the first round of the European Championship.
The top 16 in late September get an automatic entry to the first round of the World Grand Prix.
The top 4 after the World Championship get an automatic entry to the Premier League.

Televised Ranking Tournaments

There is often a lot of confusion with televised tournaments and knowing which ones count towards the PDC Order of Merit. While a lot of televised tournaments are ranked, some are not, usually due to the tournament in question having restricted places e.g. Premier League.

Ranked Tournaments

• UK Open
• World Matchplay
• European Championship†
• World Grand Prix
• World Championship
• Players Championship Finals

Un-ranked Tournaments

• Premier League Darts
• Championship League Darts
• Grand Slam of Darts

Note: Flags are of the nation in which the event is held.
† The European Championship is held in different countries every year.

Current Order of Merit

• As of November 6, 2011 after Players Championship events in Crawley.^[1]

Ranking	Player	Prize Money		Ranking	Player	Prize Money
1	Phil Taylor	£872,100		17	Andy Hamilton	£134,200
2	Adrian Lewis	£394,600		18 1	Jamie Caven	£121,000
3	James Wade	£354,100		19 1	Denis Ovens	£118,500
4	Gary Anderson	£311,300		20 1	Andy Smith	£117,100
5	Simon Whitlock	£283,700		21 3	Colin Osborne	£115,900
6 1	Mark Webster	£211,300		22	Kevin Painter	£107,800
7 1	Wes Newton	£209,800		23 1	Co Stompé	£101,000
8	Raymond van Barneveld	£201,300		24 1	Alan Tabern	£97,300
9	Paul Nicholson	£177,050		25	Brendan Dolan	£89,900
10	Terry Jenkins	£156,200		26	John Part	£85,800
11	Mervyn King	£155,000		27 1	Steve Brown	£81,100
12	Mark Walsh	£147,700		28 4	Justin Pipe	£80,900
13	Colin Lloyd	£143,400		29 2	Steve Beaton	£80,800
14 1	Ronnie Baxter	£142,900		30	Robert Thornton	£79,000
15 1	Wayne Jones	£142,800		31 2	Peter Wright	£78,900
16	Vincent van der Voort	£142,100		32 1	Mark Dudbridge	£73,500

Previous World Number Ones (PDC)

The following is a list of players who have held the PDC World Number One ranking.^[2]

Jan 1993 to Nov 1994 Alan Warriner
Nov 1994 to Apr 1995 Dennis Priestley
Apr 1995 to Aug 1996 Rod Harrington
Aug 1996 to Sep 1996 Phil Taylor
Feb 1997 to Aug 1998 Alan Warriner
Aug 1998 to Aug 2000 Rod Harrington
Aug 2000 to Sep 2000 Phil Taylor
Sep 2000 to Oct 2001 Peter Manley
Oct 2001 to Jan 2002 Alan Warriner
Jan 2002 to Feb 2002 Alan Warriner/Phil Taylor(joint)
Feb 2002 to May 2002 Alan Warriner
May 2002 to Jan 2003 Phil Taylor
Jan 2003 to Jul 2003 John Part
Jul 2003 to Feb 2005 Phil Taylor
Feb 2005 to Mar 2006 Colin Lloyd
Mar 2006 to May 2006 Phil Taylor
May 2006 to Jan 2007 Colin Lloyd
Jan 2007 to Jan 2008 Phil Taylor
Jan 2008 to Jun 2008 Raymond Van Barneveld
Jun 2008 to present Phil Taylor

First WDC/PDC rankings

Following the World Darts Council (now PDC) split from the British Darts Organisation during 1992-94 the WDC drew up its first ranking list in the run-up to its inaugural 1994 World Championship. Mike Gregory and Chris Johns later went back to the BDO set up and Bobby George and many of the non-UK players never competed in the early days of the WDC.^{[citation needed]}

Ranking	Player		Ranking	Player
1	Alan Warriner		16	Jann Hoffmann
2	Rod Harrington		=	Chris Johns
3	Phil Taylor		=	Roland Scholten
4	John Lowe		19	Raymond van Barneveld
5	Mike Gregory		=	Keith Deller
6	Peter Evison		21	Bobby George
7	Kevin Spiolek		22	Per Skau
=	Dennis Priestley		23	Bernd Hebecker
9	Bob Anderson		=	Andree Welge
10	Jocky Wilson		=	Pascal Rabau
11	Jamie Harvey		26	Leo Laurens
12	Eric Bristow		=	Bert Vlaardingerbroek
13	Cliff Lazarenko		=	Tom Kirby
14	Magnus Caris		=	Wayne Weening
=	Steve Beaton		=	Mauro Levy

See also

• Professional Darts Corporation

References

1. ^ "PDC Order of Merit". PDC. 1 October 2008. http://www.pdc.tv/page/PDCOrderofMerit/0,,10180,00.html. Retrieved 1 August 2011. 
2. ^ Previous PDC World number ones

External links

• Official PDC Order of Merit