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 Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded for performances in ranking tournaments.

## Methodology

The Professional Darts Corporation adopted an Order of Merit system in 2007, which is based on prize money won over two years for the main Order of Merit and separate one-year rankings for other PDC Pro Tour events.

## PDC Order of Merit

PDC Order of Merit as of 12 March 2025. :
| Players ranked 1 - 32 ||||
| Rank | Change | Player | Earnings |
| 1 | | Luke Humphries | £1,901,250 |
| 2 | | Luke Littler | £1,284,500 |
| 3 | | Michael van Gerwen | £780,750 |
| 4 | | Rob Cross | £568,000 |
| 5 | 1 | Stephen Bunting | £558,000 |
| 6 | 1 | Jonny Clayton | £557,750 |
| 7 | | Damon Heta | £520,250 |
| 8 | | Chris Dobey | £511,000 |
| 9 | | Dave Chisnall | £508,250 |
| 10 | | Gerwyn Price | £505,500 |
| 11 | | James Wade | £497,250 |
| 12 | | Nathan Aspinall | £484,500 |
| 13 | | Danny Noppert | £449,750 |
| 14 | | Peter Wright | £443,750 |
| 15 | | Josh Rock | £440,500 |
| 16 | | Gary Anderson | £424,500 |
| 17 | | Michael Smith | £413,250 |
| 18 | | Ross Smith | £407,500 |
| 19 | 1 | Ryan Searle | £400,000 |
| 20 | 1 | Dimitri Van den Bergh | £399,500 |
| 21 | | Mike De Decker | £374,500 |
| 22 | 1 | Joe Cullen | £372,000 |
| 23 | 1 | Martin Schindler | £361,500 |
| 24 | 1 | Gian van Veen | £342,750 |
| 25 | 1 | Daryl Gurney | £334,000 |
| 26 | | Dirk van Duijvenbode | £297,000 |
| 27 | | Ritchie Edhouse | £295,500 |
| 28 | | Andrew Gilding | £295,250 |
| 29 | | Ryan Joyce | £293,000 |
| 30 | | Ricardo Pietreczko | £286,000 |
| 31 | | Krzysztof Ratajski | £281,000 |
| 32 | | Luke Woodhouse | £269,750 |
| *Change since 9 March 2025. ||||
PDC Order of Merit as of 12 March 2025. :
| Players ranked 33 - 64 ||||
| Rank | Change | Player | Earnings |
| 33 | | Brendan Dolan | £264,750 |
| 34 | | Jermaine Wattimena | £255,750 |
| 35 | | Raymond van Barneveld | £252,750 |
| 36 | | Scott Williams | £226,500 |
| 37 | | Gabriel Clemens | £213,250 |
| 38 | | Martin Lukeman | £210,000 |
| 39 | | Cameron Menzies | £201,250 |
| 40 | | Callan Rydz | £176,500 |
| 41 | 1 | Kevin Doets | £155,000 |
| 42 | 1 | Mickey Mansell | £150,500 |
| 43 | | Madars Razma | £148,250 |
| 44 | 1 | Ricky Evans | £143,250 |
| 45 | | José de Sousa | £135,750 |
| 46 | 2 | William O'Connor | £125,000 |
| 47 | 1 | Kim Huybrechts | £124,750 |
| 48 | 1 | Niels Zonneveld | £123,250 |
| 49 | | Richard Veenstra | £117,500 |
| 50 | | Wessel Nijman | £117,000 |
| 51 | | Keane Barry | £115,250 |
| 52 | 1 | Florian Hempel | £110,250 |
| 53 | 1 | Ian White | £110,000 |
| 54 | | Jim Williams | £104,250 |
| 55 | | Matt Campbell | £102,250 |
| 56 | 1 | Robert Owen | £92,000 |
| 57 | 1 | Alan Soutar | £90,750 |
| 58 | 1 | Connor Scutt | £85,000 |
| 59 | 1 | Nick Kenny | £84,750 |
| 60 | | Stephen Burton | £84,250 |
| 61 | 2 | Dylan Slevin | £82,250 |
| 61 | | Ryan Meikle | £82,250 |
| 63 | 1 | Mensur Suljović | £80,250 |
| 64 | | Jeffrey de Graaf | £77,000 |
| *Change since 9 March 2025. ||||
PDC Order of Merit as of 12 March 2025. :
| Players ranked 65th or lower ||||
| Rank | Change | Player | Earnings |
| 65 | | Thibault Tricole | £62,750 |
| 66 | | James Hurrell | £54,500 |
| 67 | | Dom Taylor | £52,500 |
| 68 | | Chris Landman | £42,250 |
| 69 | | Mario Vandenbogaerde | £35,000 |
| 70 | | Andy Baetens | £32,500 |
| 71 | | Rhys Griffin | £31,000 |
| 72 | 1 | Berry van Peer | £28,750 |
| 73 | 1 | Radek Szagański | £27,250 |
| 74 | | Nathan Rafferty | £26,250 |
| 75 | 2 | Lukas Wenig | £25,500 |
| 75 | | Steve Lennon | £25,500 |
| 77 | 1 | Matthew Dennant | £24,250 |
| 78 | 2 | Danny Lauby | £23,750 |
| 79 | 4 | Owen Bates | £23,500 |
| 79 | 1 | Jitse Van der Wal | £23,500 |
| 81 | 3 | Jelle Klaasen | £22,750 |
| 82 | 1 | Patrick Geeraets | £22,000 |
| 83 | 1 | Darren Beveridge | £21,750 |
| 84 | 1 | Adam Hunt | £21,250 |
| 85 | 2 | William Borland | £21,000 |
| 86 | | George Killington | £20,000 |
| 87 | | Benjamin Reus | £19,000 |
| 88 | 3 | Martijn Dragt | £18,500 |
| 88 | | Haupai Puha | £18,500 |
| 90 | 2 | Robert Grundy | £17,500 |
| 91 | 1 | Brett Claydon | £16,500 |
| 92 | | Joshua Richardson | £10,250 |
| 93 | | Michele Turetta | £10,000 |
| 94 | 4 | Cam Crabtree | £9,250 |
| 95 | 5 | Thomas Lovely | £9,000 |
| 95 | 1 | Bradley Brooks | £9,000 |
| 97 | 14 | Sebastian Białecki | £8,500 |
| 98 | 3 | Darryl Pilgrim | £7,750 |
| 99 | 3 | Justin Hood | £7,500 |
| 99 | 3 | Tim Wolters | £7,500 |
| 101 | 10 | Christian Kist | £7,000 |
| 102 | 1 | Adam Lipscombe | £6,750 |
| 102 | 4 | Darius Labanauskas | £6,750 |
| 104 | 3 | Stefan Bellmont | £6,000 |
| 105 | 6 | Beau Greaves | £5,500 |
| 105 | 6 | Rusty-Jake Rodriguez | £5,500 |
| 107 | 11 | Marvin van Velzen | £5,250 |
| 107 | 4 | Jim Long | £5,250 |
| 107 | 4 | Andy Boulton | £5,250 |
| 107 | 4 | Karel Sedláček | £5,250 |
| 111 | 10 | Jurjen van der Velde | £5,000 |
| 111 | 4 | Niko Springer | £5,000 |
| 111 | | Maik Kuivenhoven | £5,000 |
| 114 | 7 | Boris Krčmar | £4,000 |
| 114 | 7 | Jules van Dongen | £4,000 |
| 116 | 6 | Aden Kirk | £3,750 |
| 117 | 13 | Greg Ritchie | £3,500 |
| 117 | 4 | Cor Dekker | £3,500 |
| 117 | 4 | Wesley Plaisier | £3,500 |
| 117 | 6 | Carl Sneyd | £3,500 |
| 117 | 6 | Kevin Burness | £3,500 |
| 122 | 3 | Oskar Lukasiak | £3,250 |
| 122 | 3 | Tom Bissell | £3,250 |
| 124 | 5 | Stefaan Henderyck | £3,000 |
| 124 | 5 | Tavis Dudeney | £3,000 |
| 126 | 4 | Dominik Grüllich | £2,500 |
| 126 | 15 | Kai Gotthardt | £2,500 |
| 126 | 5 | Tommy Lishman | £2,500 |
| 126 | 5 | Jimmy van Schie | £2,500 |
| 130 | 5 | Nathan Girvan | £2,250 |
| 131 | 10 | Max Hopp | £2,000 |
| 131 | 3 | Adam Paxton | £2,000 |
| 133 | 4 | Andreas Harrysson | £1,750 |
| 134 | 4 | Graham Usher | £1,500 |
| 134 | 4 | Tom Sykes | £1,500 |
| 134 | 4 | Jeffrey Sparidaans | £1,500 |
| 134 | 4 | Maximilian Czerwinski | £1,500 |
| 134 | 4 | Tytus Kanik | £1,500 |
| 139 | 2 | Cedric Waegemans | £1,250 |
| 139 | 2 | François Schweyen | £1,250 |
| 139 | 2 | Patrick De Backer | £1,250 |
| 139 | 2 | Sybren Gijbels | £1,250 |
| 143 | | Viktor Tingström | £1,000 |
| 143 | 2 | Alexander Merkx | £1,000 |
| 143 | 2 | Danny van Trijp | £1,000 |
| 143 | 2 | Graham Hall | £1,000 |
| 143 | 2 | Paul Rowley | £1,000 |
| 143 | 2 | Shaun Fox | £1,000 |
| 143 | 2 | Simon Stevenson | £1,000 |
| 143 | 2 | Tommy Morris | £1,000 |
| 143 | 2 | Jarno Bottenberg | £1,000 |
| 143 | 2 | Mervyn King | £1,000 |
| 143 | 2 | Michael Flynn | £1,000 |
| 143 | 2 | Leon Weber | £1,000 |
| 155 | 1 | Henry Coates | £750 |
| 155 | 1 | Pero Ljubić | £750 |
| 155 | 1 | Ryan Branley | £750 |
| *Change since 9 March 2025. ||||

## Secondary Orders of Merit

In addition to the main two-year Order of Merit, the PDC also operates secondary Orders of Merit for their different tours. These include the:
* ProTour Order of Merit, which counts money earned in Players Championships and European Tour events over a 12-month rolling period. In addition to qualification for televised tournaments, this ranking determines the seedings for Pro Tour events.
* European Tour Order of Merit, which counts money earned in European Tour events during the calendar year. The top 32 on this ranking list comprise the qualifiers for the European Championship, all seeded, at the end of the year.
* Players Championship Order of Merit, which counts money earned in Player Championship events during the calendar year. The top 64 on this ranking list are the seeded qualifiers to the Players Championship Finals.
* Challenge Tour Order of Merit, which counts money earned on the Challenge Tour (by non Tour Card holders that participated in Q-School) during the calendar year. The top players at the end of the year qualify for the World Championship, UK Open, and receive Tour Cards.
* Development Tour Order of Merit, which counts money earned on the Development Tour (by Tour Card holders and non Tour Card holders alike, aged 16–23) during the calendar year. The top players at the end of the year qualify for the World Championship, UK Open, and receive Tour Cards.
* Women's Series Order of Merit, which was introduced in 2021 after the first women's series events were introduced in 2020. The tournament series qualifies two women to the Grand Slam, and World Championship.

## Player exemptions and seedings

The PDC rankings from all orders of merit determine exemptions from the qualifying competitions and seedings for all televised events. Additionally, the orders of merit are used to offer tour cards for the following year.
PDC Order of Merit Exemptions :
| Tournament | Qualifiers (seeds) | Qualifiers (seeds) | Qualifiers (seeds) | Qualifiers (seeds) | Qualifiers (seeds) | Qualifiers (seeds) | Qualifiers (seeds) | Qualifiers (seeds) | Qualifiers (seeds) |
| Tournament | By Order of Merit | By Order of Merit | By Order of Merit | By Order of Merit | By Order of Merit | By Order of Merit | By Order of Merit | By Order of Merit | Other |
| Tournament | Main | PT | ET | PC | WS | CT | DT | WO | Other |
| Ranked televised events |||||||||
| World Championship | 32 (32) | 32 | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | 26 |
| World Masters | 24 (16) | — | — | — | — | | | | 8 |
| UK Open | TCH | — | — | — | — | 8 | 8 | — | 16 |
| World Matchplay | 16 (16) | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| World Grand Prix | 16 (16) | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| European Championship | — | — | 32 (32) | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grand Slam of Darts | 0 (8) | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | 2 | 18 |
| Players Championship Finals | — | — | — | 64 (64) | — | — | — | — | — |
| PDC Pro Tour ||||||||||
| European Tour events | 16 (16) | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16 |
| Players Championship events | TCH | 0 (32) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Non-ranked televised events ||||||||||
| Premier League Darts | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 |
| World Series of Darts Finals | — | — | — | — | 8 (8) | — | — | — | 24 |
| Tour Cards | 64 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | — | var |
* 1 2 3 The top 8 non-tour card holders will enter at the preliminary round group stage
* ↑ Players Ranked 25–56 will enter at the last 64 of the preliminary round, while Players Ranked 57–88 will be seeded in the preliminary round group stage, and Players Ranked 89–128 will enter at the preliminary rounded group stage non-seeded
* ↑ The 8 qualifiers from the preliminary round

## Ranking tournaments

The PDC holds a variety of ranked and unranked televised tournaments throughout the year. There are an additional selection of ranked floor and streamed tournaments that comprise the PDC Pro Tour, as well as unranked secondary tours and events such as the Challenge Tour, Development Tour, and event qualifiers. Money earned in all ranking events counts toward the Order of Merit, with none counting from the unranked events.
PDC Ranking Tournaments with Payouts :
| Tournament | Prize money | Prize money | Prize money | Prize money | Prize money | Prize money | Prize money | Prize money | Prize money | Prize money |
| Tournament | Total | Champion | Runner-up | Semi-finalists | Top 8 | Top 16 | Top 32 | Top 64 | Top 96 | Top 128 |
| Ranked televised events ||||||||||
| World Championship | £2,500,000 | £500,000 | £200,000 | £100,000 | £50,000 | £35,000 | £25,000 | £15,000 | £7,500 | — |
| UK Open | £600,000 | £110,000 | £50,000 | £30,000 | £15,000 | £10,000 | £5,000 | £2,500 | £1,500 | £1,000 |
| World Matchplay | £800,000 | £200,000 | £100,000 | £50,000 | £30,000 | £15,000 | £10,000 | — | — | — |
| World Grand Prix | £600,000 | £120,000 | £60,000 | £40,000 | £25,000 | £15,000 | £7,500 | — | — | — |
| European Championship | £600,000 | £120,000 | £60,000 | £40,000 | £25,000 | £15,000 | £7,500 | — | — | — |
| Grand Slam of Darts | £650,000 | £150,000 | £70,000 | £50,000 | £25,000 | £12,250 | £5,000 | — | — | — |
| Players Championship Finals | £600,000 | £120,000 | £60,000 | £30,000 | £20,000 | £10,000 | £6,500 | £3,000 | — | — |
| PDC Pro Tour ||||||||||
| 13 European Tour events | £175,000 | £30,000 | £12,000 | £8,500 | £6,000 | £4,000 | £2,500 | £1,250 | — | — |
| 30 Players Championship events | £125,000 | £15,000 | £10,000 | £5,000 | £3,500 | £2,500 | £1,500 | £1,000 | — | — |
| Total yearly ranking payouts | £11,625,000 | £2,070,000 | £996,000 | £1,141,000 | £1,432,000 | £1,822,000 | £2,208,000 | £1,636,000 | £288,000 | £32,000 |
* ↑ The Grand Slam pays an additional £3,500 to the 8 group winners.
* ↑ The Grand Slam pays £8,000 and £5,000 for third and fourth place finishers respectively in the group stage, which comprise the top 32.
* ↑ The 2020 PDC Pro Tour was reduced to 4 European Tour events and 23 Players Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
* ↑ The 16 seeded players at a European Tour event do not receive money toward OoM for a top 32 finish.
* ↑ European Tour events pay out to 48 players (the complete field).

### Unranked tournaments

The PDC operates additional unranked tournaments for tour card holders and occasional qualifiers throughout the year. This includes three televised premier invitational events comprising the Premier League, World Series of Darts Finals, and the World Cup of Darts pairs event. Although none of these events count toward the Order of Merit, they all award some number of tournament spots based on Order of Merit position. Additionally there are usually five to seven World Series of Darts events scheduled across the globe each year with eight top PDC players seeded over eight local qualifiers.

### Secondary tours and tournaments

The PDC also offers secondary tours that do not count toward the main Order of Merit, but do each include their own confined orders of merit. The Challenge Tour is open to any players who played at the most recent Q-School but failed to earn a tour card. Throughout the year, the top players on the Challenge Tour OoM are invited to fill openings on the Pro Tour, receive invitations to the World Championship and UK Open, and at the end of the year receive tour cards for the next two years.
The Development Tour is open to players outside of the top 32 on the main Order of Merit who are between the ages of 16 and 23. Similarly to the Challenge Tour, the top players on the Development Tour order of merit receive tour cards and invitations to the UK Open and World Championship. Additionally, 96 players - comprising 16 invitations, tour card holders of the appropriate age, and Development Tour competitors - partake in the World Youth Championship. Although this championship does not count toward any order of merit, there is a £60,000 payout, and the finalists receive tour cards as well as berths in the Grand Slam and World Championship.

## 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. Similarly, Alan Warriner was world number one on four occasions before ever winning his first and only PDC major, the 2001 Grand Prix, while Taylor won eight world championships and a host of other titles during that period.

## Previous World Number Ones

13 players have held the position of World Number One since the World Darts Council started new rankings in 1993. Seven different players held the position in the old points system, and seven players have held the position since the PDC switched to the two-year earnings based Order of Merit system in 2007, with Phil Taylor being the only player to have been number one in both eras.
| Player | # | Years in which player stood Number 1 |
| Phil Taylor | 13 | 1996200020022003200420062007200820092010201120122013 |
| Michael van Gerwen | 7 | 2014201520162017201820192020 |
| Alan Warriner | 6 | 199319941997199820012002 |
| Rod Harrington | 5 | 19951996199819992000 |
| Colin Lloyd | 3 | 200520062007 |
| Dennis Priestley | 2 | 19941995 |
| Peter Manley | 2 | 20002001 |
| Gerwyn Price | 2 | 20212022 |
| Luke Humphries | 2 | 20242025 |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 1 | 2008 |
| John Part | 1 | 2003 |
| Peter Wright | 1 | 2022 |
| Michael Smith | 1 | 2023 |
| Italic indicates the player was reigning world champion that year Bold indicates the player stood number one at the conclusion of that year's world championship |||

### Periods

| No. | Player(s) | From | From | Length |
| 1 | Alan Warriner-Little | January 1993 | Incarnation of the WDC | 674 days |
| 2 | Dennis Priestley | 6 November 1994 | 1994 Lada UK Masters | 155 |
| 3 | Rod Harrington | 10 April 1995 | 1995 UK Matchplay | 479 days |
| 4 | Phil Taylor | August 1996 | | 31 days |
| | Alan Warriner-Little (2) | September 1996 | | 699 days |
| | Rod Harrington (2) | 1 August 1998 | 1998 World Matchplay | 728 days |
| | Phil Taylor (2) | 29 July 2000 | 2000 World Matchplay | 57 days |
| 5 | Peter Manley | 24 September 2000 | 2000 Windy City Open | 399 days |
| | Alan Warriner-Little (3) | 28 October 2001 | 2001 World Grand Prix | 69 days |
| | Alan Warriner-Little (4) and Phil Taylor (3) | 5 January 2002 | 2002 World Championship | 28 days |
| | Alan Warriner-Little (5) | 2 February 2002 | 2002 Eastbourne Open | 88 days |
| | Phil Taylor (4) | May 2002 | | 248 days |
| 6 | John Part | 4 January 2003 | 2003 World Championship | 203 days |
| | Phil Taylor (5) | 26 July 2003 | 2003 Bobby Bourn Memorial Trophy | 582 days |
| 7 | Colin Lloyd | 27 February 2005 | 2005 West Tyrone Open | 469 days |
| | Phil Taylor (6) | 11 June 2006 | 2006 UK Open | 7 days |
| | Colin Lloyd (2) | 18 June 2006 | 2006 Players Championship 3 | 197 days |
| | Phil Taylor (7) | 1 January 2007 | 2007 World Championship | 365 days |
| 8 | Raymond van Barneveld | 1 January 2008 | 2008 World Championship | 159 days |
| | Phil Taylor (8) | 8 June 2008 | 2008 UK Open | 2,033 days |
| 9 | Michael van Gerwen | 1 January 2014 | 2014 World Championship | 2,559 days |
| 10 | Gerwyn Price | 3 January 2021 | 2021 World Championship | 427 days |
| 11 | Peter Wright | 6 March 2022 | 2022 UK Open | 140 days |
| | Gerwyn Price (2) | 24 July 2022 | 2022 World Matchplay | 77 days |
| | Peter Wright (2) | 9 October 2022 | 2022 World Grand Prix | 21 days |
| | Gerwyn Price (3) | 30 October 2022 | 2022 European Championship | 65 days |
| 12 | Michael Smith | 3 January 2023 | 2023 World Championship | 365 days |
| 13 | Luke Humphries | 3 January 2024 | 2024 World Championship | 437 days |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Uses 1st of month where exact date unknown.

#### Key

| Before January 2007 | Used old points system |
| Current | Reigning number one on Order of Merit |

### Total Days at No. 1

| No. | Player | Total Days at No 1 | Longest Consecutive Run |
| 1 | Phil Taylor | 3323 | 2033 |
| 2 | Michael van Gerwen | 2559 | 2559 |
| 3 | Alan Warriner-Little | 1558 | 699 |
| 4 | Rod Harrington | 1207 | 728 |
| 5 | Colin Lloyd | 666 | 469 |
| 6 | Gerwyn Price | 569 | 427 |
| 7 | Luke Humphries | 437 | 437 |
| 8 | Peter Manley | 399 | 399 |
| 9 | Michael Smith | 365 | 365 |
| 10 | John Part | 203 | 203 |
| 11 | Peter Wright | 161 | 140 |
| 12 | Raymond van Barneveld | 159 | 159 |
| 13 | Dennis Priestley | 155 | 155 |
| Active players in bold. |||

## First WDC/PDC rankings

Following the World Darts Council split from the British Darts Organisation between 1992 and 1994, 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.
| 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 |