PDC Order of Merit following the 2022 UK Open | Wright becomes world number one

Jamie Shaw in UK Open 07 Mar 2022

Peter Wright becomes the 11th different PDC world number one (Photo by Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

Peter Wright has become PDC world number one for the first time in his career following the 2022 UK Open in Minehead.

Wright, the reigning World Champion and World Matchplay winner, has ended Gerwyn Price’s 14-month reign at the top of the PDC Order of Merit.

Price needed to reach the final of the UK Open and better Wright’s run in order to maintain top spot, but his Quarter-Final defeat to Michael Smith saw the crowning of a new world number one.

Wright, who lost out to William O’Connor in the Last 16 in Minehead, becomes the 11th different number one since the formation of the WDC/PDC in 1992.

The colourful Scot holds a slender £21,000 lead over Price on the Order of Merit and the pair are expected to become embroiled in a tussle for top spot throughout the season, before the Welshman heads to Ally Pally to defend his £500,000 winner’s prize money from 2021.

A significant weekend of change at the top end of the world rankings also saw Michael van Gerwen drop two places to fifth – his lowest position in a decade.

Van Gerwen was initially leapfrogged by James Wade – who moves up to third, before Smith’s run to the final saw him climb into fourth spot.

Meanwhile, Danny Noppert’s fairy-tale triumph sees him climb seven places to 12th, entering the world’s top 16 for the second time after picking up his first PDC major ranking title.

Noppert becomes the second highest ranked Dutchman and is now in pole position to partner MVG at the World Cup of Darts for the second time.

Noppert’s rise means former UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall drops out of the world’s top 16, falling two places to 17th.

Damon Heta’s run to the Quarter-Finals in Minehead sees him climb four places to 23rd, moving above Simon Whitlock to become the highest ranked Australian in the PDC.

O’Connor, who reached his first major ranking Semi-Final at the weekend, is up three places to 34th, while fellow Irishman Keane Barry surges 14 places to 52nd after also reaching his first televised ranking Semi-Final.

Croatia’s Boris Krcmar is up six places to 53rd after reaching the Last 16, while Andy Boulton and Steve West drop four and five places to 57th and 60th respectively.

Martin Schinder climbs back into the world’s top 64 at the expense of Max Hopp and Mike De Decker, while Sebastian Bialecki’s dream run to the Quarter-Finals sees him enter the PDC Order of Merit as world number 81 despite not holding a Tour Card.

GET 50 FREE SPINS (NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED) WHEN YOU REGISTER HERE (18+ | T&Cs Apply)

PDC Order of Merit following the 2022 UK Open

Position	Name	Prize Money
1	Peter Wright	£1,190,250
2	Gerwyn Price	£1,169,000
3	James Wade	£571,000
4	Michael Smith	£569,750
5	Michael van Gerwen	£550,250
6	Gary Anderson	£472,500
7	Jose de Sousa	£435,500
8	Jonny Clayton	£411,750
9	Dimitri Van den Bergh	£411,250
10	Rob Cross	£347,000
11	Joe Cullen	£336,500
12	Danny Noppert	£325,500
13	Krzysztof Ratajski	£297,000
14	Dave Chisnall	£294,250
15	Dirk van Duijvenbode	£268,250
16	Ryan Searle	£262,750
17	Nathan Aspinall	£260,500
18	Mervyn King	£238,250
19	Luke Humphries	£238,000
20	Stephen Bunting	£220,750
21	Gabriel Clemens	£206,750
22	Daryl Gurney	£204,500
23	Damon Heta	£202,000
24	Simon Whitlock	£199,250
25	Brendan Dolan	£198,500
26	Devon Petersen	£194,000
27	Ian White	£190,500
28	Mensur Suljovic	£185,750
29	Callan Rydz	£182,250
30	Vincent van der Voort	£180,000
31	Glen Durrant	£160,500
32	Chris Dobey	£150,250
33	Ross Smith	£140,250
34	William O’Connor	£127,500
35	Ryan Joyce	£126,750
36	Kim Huybrechts	£126,500
37	Jermaine Wattimena	£115,750
38	Ricky Evans	£106,000
39	Martijn Kleermaker	£101,500
40	Adrian Lewis	£100,000
41	Jamie Hughes	£96,250
42	Adam Hunt	£86,000
43	Darius Labanauskas	£84,500
44	Steve Lennon	£80,250
45	Jason Lowe	£78,000
46	Madars Razma	£75,250
47	Jeffrey de Zwaan	£75,250
48	Luke Woodhouse	£73,000
49	Alan Soutar	£71,500
50	Maik Kuivenhoven	£68,250
51	Ron Meulenkamp	£68,000
52	Keane Barry	£67,250
53	Boris Krcmar	£62,000
54	Steve Beaton	£61,750
55	Ryan Meikle	£58,000
56	Raymond van Barneveld	£58,000
57	Andy Boulton	£57,500
58	William Borland	£56,250
59	Jeff Smith	£55,500
60	Steve West	£54,250
61	Keegan Brown	£54,000
62	Florian Hempel	£53,500
63	Martin Schindler	£53,000
64	Ritchie Edhouse	£52,000
65	Max Hopp	£50,500
66	Mike De Decker	£49,750
67	John Henderson	£44,750
68	Lewy Williams	£41,750
69	Scott Mitchell	£39,500
70	Joe Murnan	£38,750
71	Jason Heaver	£35,750
72	Adam Gawlas	£23,250
73	Boris Koltsov	£23,000
74	Niels Zonneveld	£21,750
75	Gordon Mathers	£21,500
76	Martin Lukeman	£15,750
77	Eddie Lovely	£14,250
78	Peter Hudson	£14,250
79	John Michael	£14,250
80	Geert Nentjes	£13,500
81	Sebastian Bialecki	£12,500
82	Geert De Vos	£11,250
83	Danny Baggish	£9,750
84	Andrew Gilding	£9,500
85	Berry van Peer	£9,000
86	Jon Worsley	£8,500
87	Jack Main	£8,500
88	John Brown	£8,000
89	Connor Scutt	£7,000
90	Zoran Lerchbacher	£7,000
91	Brian Raman	£6,000
92	Lee Evans	£6,000
93	David Evans	£6,000
94	Brett Claydon	£5,750
95	Krzysztof Kciuk	£5,500
96	Kevin Doets	£5,000
97	Scott Waites	£4,750
98	Scott Williams	£4,750
99	Jake Jones	£4,250
100	Jim Williams	£4,000
101	Cameron Menzies	£4,000
102	Danny Jansen	£3,750
103	Stephen Burton	£3,750
104	George Killington	£3,250
105	Niko Springer	£3,000
106	John O’Shea	£3,000
107	Ross Montgomery	£3,000
108	Radek Szaganski	£2,750
109	Jamie Clark	£2,750
110	Luc Peters	£2,500
111	Damian Mol	£2,250
112	Jose Justicia	£2,250
113	Mario Vandenbogaerde	£2,250
114	Rowby-John Rodriguez	£2,250
115	Graham Hall	£2,000
116	Jelle Klaasen	£2,000
117	Fabian Schmutzler	£2,000
118	Nico Kurz	£2,000
119	Jim McEwan	£2,000
120	Jimmy Hendriks	£2,000
121	Richie Burnett	£2,000
122	Ted Evetts	£1,750
123	Darren Webster	£1,500
124	Nathan Rafferty	£1,500
125	Ricardo Pietreczko	£1,500
126	Michael Unterbuchner	£1,500
127	Danny Lauby	£1,000
128	Kenny Neyens	£1,000
129	Lukas Wenig	£1,000
130	Ryan Harrington	£1,000
131	Danny van Trijp	£1,000
132	David Schlichting	£1,000
133	Dennis Nilsson	£1,000
134	Dragutin Horvat	£1,000
135	Janos Vegso	£1,000
136	Wayne Jones	£1,000
137	Bradley Brooks	£750
138	Jules van Dongen	£750
139	Matt Campbell	£750
140	Steve Haggerty	£750
141	Tony Martinez	£750
142	Nick Fullwell	£750
143	Stu Wilson	£750
144	Rusty-Jake Rodriguez	£750