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 Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded for performances in ranking tournaments.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 Points Rankings

• As of January 3, 2012

These rankings have no relevance to the PDC and are not used by the PDC. There is no defining way in which points are handed out but the points system gives a better idea of which people have been performing better at the current moment in time.

Ranking	Player	Points		Ranking	Player	Points
1	Phil Taylor	60.30		17	Ronnie Baxter	13.40
2	Adrian Lewis	49.10		18	Vincent van der Voort	12.80
3	James Wade	34.15		19	Jamie Caven	12.65
4	Gary Anderson	30.45		20	Andy Smith	12.30
5	Andy Hamilton	25.55		21	Justin Pipe	11.75
6	Simon Whitlock	20.70		22	Denis Ovens	11.30
7	Wes Newton	18.25		23	Mervyn King	10.70
8	Mark Webster	17.20		24	Colin Osborne	10.35
9	Terry Jenkins	15.70		25	Alan Tabern	10.10
10	Paul Nicholson	16.45		26	Kim Huybrechts	9.55
11	Colin Lloyd	15.90		27	Michael van Gerwen	8.95
12	Wayne Jones	15.80		28	Steve Beaton	8.65
13	Kevin Painter	14.90		29	Brendan Dolan	8.60
14	Mark Walsh	14.40		30	Co Stompé	8.55
15	John Part	14.20		31	Dave Chisnall	8.30
16	Raymond Van Barneveld	13.65		32	Steve Brown	8.15

Current Order of Merit

• As of January 3, 2012 after World Championship Final.

Ranking	Player	Prize Money		Ranking	Player	Prize Money
1	Phil Taylor	£665,100		17 4	Paul Nicholson	£124,850
2	Adrian Lewis	£558,800		18 5	Ronnie Baxter	£121,100
3	James Wade	£383,700		19 1	Jamie Caven	£120,600
4	Gary Anderson	£329,300		20	Andy Smith	£116,700
5	Simon Whitlock	£233,700		21 2	Denis Ovens	£114,100
6 1	Wes Newton	£215,400		22 3	Justin Pipe	£105,500
7 10	Andy Hamilton	£212,900		23	Colin Osborne	£102,700
8 2	Mark Webster	£183,400		24 4	John Part	£101,800
9 1	Raymond Van Barneveld	£168,300		25 1	Alan Tabern	£96,300
10 1	Kevin Painter	£161,700		26 4	Co Stompé	£88,000
11 1	Terry Jenkins	£161,200		27 1	Steve Brown	£87,300
12 1	Mark Walsh	£154,500		28 1	Brendan Dolan	£83,200
13 1	Wayne Jones	£143,600		29	Peter Wright	£82,900
14 2	Vincent van der Voort	£140,700		30	Steve Beaton	£79,800
15	Colin Lloyd	£136,300		31 3	Richie Burnett	£76,000
16	Mervyn King	£132,000		32 6	Dave Chisnall	£74,600

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		=	Muaro

See also

• Professional Darts Corporation

External links

• Official PDC Order of Merit