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. Following the 2007 PDC World Darts Championship it superseded a world ranking system based on points being awarded for performances in ranking tournaments.
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.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 Top 32 Order of Merit
PDC ProTour Order of Merit
The ProTour Order of Merit counts prize money won in Players Championship events and European Tour events over a 12-month period. Players are seeded based on the ProTour Order of Merit to all Player Championship and European Tour events. It also is a main way to qualify to the major TV tournaments.- The top 16 players in the ProTour Order of Merit not already qualified gain entry to the World Grand Prix.
- The top 16 players in the ProTour Order of Merit not already qualified gain entry to the World Matchplay.
- The top 32 players in the ProTour Order of Merit not already qualified gain entry to the World Championship.
Player exemptions
The PDC rankings determine exemptions from the qualifying competitions from each major event:- The top 16 in early July get an automatic entry to the first round of the World Matchplay.
- The top 16 in late September get an automatic entry to the first round of the World Grand Prix.
- The top 32 in early December get an automatic entry to the second round of the World Championship.
- The top 4 after the World Championship get an automatic entry to the Premier League.
Televised Ranking Tournaments
Ranked Tournaments
- World Championship
- UK Open
- World Matchplay
- European Championship
- World Grand Prix
- Grand Slam of Darts
- Players Championship Finals
- Austrian Darts Open
- German Darts Championship
- European Darts Open
- Dutch Darts Masters
- European Darts Trophy
- Gibraltar Darts Trophy
- European Darts Grand Prix
- International Darts Open
- European Darts Matchplay
- German Darts Open
- German Darts Grand Prix
- Danish Darts Open
- Dutch Darts Championship
World Series of Darts
- German Darts Masters
- U.S. Darts Masters
- Shanghai Darts Masters
- Auckland Darts Masters
- Melbourne Darts Masters
- Brisbane Darts Masters
- World Series of Darts Finals
Note: Flags are of the nation in which the 2018 event is held.
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 separate 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
| Player | Year in which player stood #1 |
 Phil Taylor | 1996, 2000, 2002-2004,2006-2008,2009-2013 |
 Michael van Gerwen | 2014–present |
| Alan Warriner | 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 |
| Rod Harrington | 1995, 1996, 1998–2000 |
| Colin Lloyd | 2005–2007 |
| Dennis Priestley | 1994, 1995 |
| Peter Manley | 2000, 2001 |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 2008 |
 John Part | 2003 |
Periods
| No. | Nationality | Player | From | To |
| and | ||||
| Phil Taylor | ||||
| Present |
;Key
| Current number-one player | |
| Used old points system |
Post World Championship number ones
| Year | Nationality | Player |
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First WDC/PDC rankings
Following the World Darts Council 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.| 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 |