2016 PDC Pro Tour

The 2016 PDC Pro Tour is a currently-running series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Players Championships, UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour events are the events that make up the Pro Tour. This year there are 36 PDC Pro Tour events being held – 20 Players Championships, six UK Open Qualifiers and ten European Tour events.

Prize money

Prize money for each Players Championship has increased from £60,000 to £75,000 per event. The UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour events stays the same as in 2015.^[1]

This is how the prize money is divided:

Stage	UKQ	PC	ET
Winner	£10,000	£10,000	£25,000
Runner-up	£5,000	£6,000	£10,000
Semi-finalists	£2,500	£3,000	£5,000
Quarter-finalists	£2,000	£2,250	£3,500
Last 16	£1,500	£1,500	£2,000
Last 32	£750	£1,000	£1,500
Last 48	N/A	N/A	£1,000
Last 64	£250	£500	N/A
Total	£60,000	£75,000	£115,000

PDC Pro Tour Card

128 players are granted Tour Cards, which enables them to participate in all Players Championships, UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour events.

Tour Cards

The 2016 Tour Cards are awarded to:

• (63) The top 64 players from the PDC Order of Merit after the 2016 World Championship. Kevin McDine resigned his card.
• (27) The 27 of 34 qualifiers from 2015 Q-School not ranked in the top 64 of the PDC Order of Merit following the World Championship. Steve Douglas resigned his card.
• (2) Two highest qualifiers from 2015 Challenge Tour (Jan Dekker and Richie Corner).
  • Jan Dekker is also in the top 64 of the PDC Order of Merit, and therefore, a Pro Tour Card was awarded to Shaun Griffiths, who finished third on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit.
• (2) Two highest qualifiers from 2015 Development Tour (Mike de Decker and Bradley Kirk).
  • Bradley Kirk turned down his Tour Card, which was subsequently awarded to Berry van Peer.
• (2) Two highest qualifiers from 2014 Challenge Tour (Mark Frost and Alan Tabern).
• (1) Two highest qualifiers from 2014 Development Tour (Dimitri van den Bergh and Josh Payne).
  • Dimitri van den Bergh is also in the top 64 of the PDC Order of Merit, and therefore, one extra Tour Card was awarded to a Q-School qualifier.
• (1) The winner of the 2015 Scandinavian Order of Merit (Kim Viljanen).
• (16) The 16 qualifiers from 2016 Q-School.

Afterwards, the playing field was complemented by the highest qualified players from the Q School Order of Merit until the maximum number of 128 Pro Tour Card players had been reached. In 2016, that meant a total of 14 players qualified this way.

Q-School

The PDC Pro Tour Qualifying School took place at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan from January 13–16. The following players won two-year tour cards on each of the days played:

January 13[2][3]	January 14[4][5]	January 15[6][7]	January 16[8][9]
John Bowles Simon Stevenson Andy Parsons Ricky Williams	Jonathan Worsley James Richardson Ted Evetts Ryan Meikle	Ray Campbell Jeffrey de Graaf Tony Newell Brian Woods	Ryan Palmer Ross Smith Yordi Meeuwisse Vincent Kamphuis
371 contestants	372 contestants	364 contestants	350 contestants

A Q School Order of Merit was also created by using the following points system:

Stage	Points
Last 8	9
Last 16	5
Last 32	3
Last 64	2
Last 128	1

To complete the field of 128 Tour Card Holders, places were allocated down the final Qualifying School Order of Merit. The following players picked up Tour Cards as a result:^[8]

1. Mark Walsh
2. John Michael
3. Dick van Dijk
4. Harry Robinson
5. Mark Barilli
6. Matt Clark
7. Terry Temple
8. Darron Brown
9. Dennis Smith
10. Mick McGowan
11. Simon Preston
12. Matthew Dennant
13. Robert Owen
14. Ron Meulenkamp

UK Open Qualifiers

No.	Date	Venue	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Ref.
1	Friday 5 February	Wigan, Robin Park Arena	Adrian Lewis	6–2	Phil Taylor	[10]
2	Saturday 6 February		Michael van Gerwen	6–4	Alan Norris	[11]
3	Sunday 7 February		Phil Taylor	6−2	Michael van Gerwen	[12]
4	Friday 19 February		Gary Anderson	6–1	James Wade	[13]
5	Saturday 20 February		Michael van Gerwen	6–2	Gerwyn Price	[14]
6	Sunday 21 February		Michael van Gerwen	6–2	Steve Beaton	[15]

Players Championships

No.	Date	Venue	Winner	Legs	Runner-Up	Ref.
1	Saturday 12 March	Barnsley, Metrodome	Peter Wright	6–5	Adrian Lewis	[16]
2	Sunday 13 March		Stephen Bunting	6–4	Michael van Gerwen	[17]
3	Friday 8 April		Michael van Gerwen	6–3	Benito van de Pas	[18]
4	Saturday 9 April		Benito van de Pas	6–5	Michael van Gerwen	[19]
5	Sunday 10 April		Ian White	6–0	Michael van Gerwen	[20]
6	Saturday 30 April		Josh Payne	6–5	James Wade	[21]
7	Sunday 1 May		Gerwyn Price	6–3	Peter Wright	[22]
8	Saturday 21 May	Coventry, Ricoh Arena
9	Sunday 22 May
10	Saturday 2 July	Barnsley, Metrodome
11	Sunday 3 July
12	Saturday 6 August
13	Sunday 7 August
14	Tuesday 20 September
15	Wednesday 21 September
16	Thursday 22 September
17	Saturday 30 September	Dublin, City West Hotel
18	Sunday 1 October
19	Saturday 22 October	Barnsley, Metrodome
20	Sunday 23 October

European Tour

Compared to last year, there's one European Tour event added on the calendar. In addition, the top 32 of the European Tour will qualify for the European Championship.

No.	Date	Venue	Location	Winner	Legs	Runner-Up	Ref.
1	12–14 February	Dutch Darts Masters	Venray, Evenementenhal	Michael van Gerwen	6–2	Daryl Gurney	[23]
2	26–28 March	German Darts Masters	Munich, Ballhausforum	Michael van Gerwen	6–4	Peter Wright
3	6–8 May	Gibraltar Darts Trophy	Gibraltar, Victoria Stadium
4	13–15 May	European Darts Matchplay	Hamburg, Alsterdorfer Sporthalle
5	10–12 June	Austrian Darts Open	Vienna, Multiversum Schwechat
6	29–31 July	European Darts Open	Düsseldorf, Maritim Hotel
7	2–4 September	International Darts Open	Riesa, Sachsen Arena
8	9–11 September	European Darts Trophy	Mülheim, RWE Sporthalle
9	16–18 September	European Darts Grand Prix	Sindelfingen, Glaspalast
10	14–16 October	German Darts Championship	Hildesheim, Halle 39

PDC Challenge Tour

The PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour was open to all PDPA Associate Members who failed to win a Tour Card at Qualifying School. The players who finished first and second received two-year Tour Cards to move onto the PDC Pro Tour in 2017 and 2018. In addition, the players who finished from third to eighth will receive free entry to the 2017 PDC Qualifying School.

No.	Date	Venue	Winner	Legs	Runner-Up	Ref.
1	Saturday 19 March	Wigan, Robin Park Arena	Chris Quantock	5−3	Rob Cross	[24]
2			Barry Lynn	5−4	Rob Modra	[25]
3	Sunday 20 March		Ritchie Edhouse	5−0	Mark Dudbridge	[26]
4			Bryan de Hoog	5−4	Peter Hudson	[27]
5	Saturday 28 May
6
7	Sunday 29 May
8
9	Saturday 25 June	Coventry, Ricoh Arena
10
11	Sunday 26 June
12
13	Saturday 10 September	Wigan, Robin Park Arena
14
15	Sunday 11 September
16

PDC Development Tour

The PDC Unicorn Development Tour is open to players aged 16–23. The Development Tour is expanded from 16 to 20 tournaments, where event number 20 is the PDC Youth World Championship from the Last 64 onwards. The players who finish first and second on the Order of Merit will receive two-year Tour Cards to move onto the PDC Pro Tour in 2017 and 2018. In addition, the players who finish from third to eighth will receive free entry to the 2017 PDC Qualifying School.

No.	Date	Venue	Winner	Legs	Runner-Up	Ref.
1	Saturday 26 March	Wigan, Robin Park Arena	Callum Loose	4−0	Rowby-John Rodriguez
2			Steve Lennon	4−2	Kurt Parry
3	Sunday 27 March		Josh Payne	4−1	Rowby-John Rodriguez
4			Adam Hunt	4−2	Dean Reynolds
5	Saturday 23 April	Mülheim, RWE Sporthalle	Max Hopp	4−2	Steve Lennon
6			Ross Twell	4−2	Adam Hunt
7	Sunday 24 April		Kenny Neyens	4−1	Callum Loose
8			Dean Reynolds	4−3	Rowby-John Rodriguez
9	Saturday 14 May	Wigan, Robin Park Arena
10
11	Sunday 15 May
12
13	Saturday 3 September	Coventry, Ricoh Arena
14
15	Sunday 4 September
16
17	Saturday 15 October	Wigan, Robin Park Arena
18
19	Sunday 16 October

Scandinavian Darts Corporation Pro Tour

The Scandinavian Pro Tour has eight events this year, with a total of €40,000 on offer. The top player and the runner-up on the SDC Order of Merit 2016 will play in the 2017 World Championship preliminary round.

No.	Date	Venue	Winner	Legs	Runner-Up	Ref.
1	Saturday 30 January	Tuusula, Hotel Gustavelund	Per Laursen	6–4	Dennis Nilsson
2	Sunday 31 January		Kim Viljanen	6–3	Magnus Caris
3	Saturday 19 March	Copenhagen, Hotel Park Inn by Radisson	Daniel Larsson	6–5	Magnus Caris
4	Sunday 20 March		Kim Viljanen	6–1	Daniel Jensen
5	Saturday 27 August	Norway
6	Sunday 28 August
7	Saturday 8 October	Sweden
8	Saturday 9 October

Australian Grand Prix Pro Tour

The Australian Grand Prix rankings are calculated from events across Australia. The top player in the rankings automatically qualified for the 2017 World Championship.

No.	Date	Also known as	Winner	Legs	Runner-Up	Ref.
1	Friday 5 February	Chester Hill Open 1	Corey Cadby	6–5	John Weber
2	Saturday 6 February	Chester Hill Open 2	David Platt	6–2	Harley Kemp
3	Sunday 7 February	Chester Hill Open 3	Gordon Mathers	6–2	Corey Cadby
4	Friday 4 March	Victoria Open 1	Corey Cadby	6–2	David Platt
5	Saturday 5 March	Victoria Open 2	Corey Cadby	6–5	Tyson Hoeful
6	Sunday 6 March	Victoria Open 3	Corey Cadby	6–2	Laurence Ryder
7	Saturday 19 March	DPA Perth Open 1	David Platt	6–3	Koha Kokiri
8	Sunday 20 March	DPA Perth Open 2	David Platt	6–4	Corey Cadby
9	Saturday 2 April	Warilla Bowls Club Open 1	Dave Marland	6–5	David Platt
10	Sunday 3 April	Warilla Bowls Club Open 2	Corey Cadby	6–5	Harley Kemp
11	Saturday 30 April	NDDA Open 1	David Platt	6-4	Tic Bridge
12	Sunday 1 May	NDDA Open 2	David Platt	6-1	Tyson Hoeful
13	Friday 24 June	Queensland Open 1
14	Saturday 25 June	Queensland Open 2
15	Sunday 26 June	Queensland Open 3
16	Saturday 30 July	Sydney Masters Qualifier 1
17	Sunday 31 July	Sydney Masters Qualifier 2
18	Monday 1 August	Sydney Masters Qualifier 3
19	Thursday 3 November	Harrows Australian GP 1
20	Friday 4 November	Harrows Australian GP 2
21	Saturday 5 November	Harrows Australian GP 3

References

1. "Prize Fund Boosts Announced". PDC. 29 December 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
2. "2016 PDC Qualifying School Day One". PDC. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
3. "PDC qualifying school: Four players win Tour Cards on the first day". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
4. "2016 PDC Qualifying School Day Two". PDC. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
5. "James Richardson, Jonathan Worsley, Ted Evetts and Ryan Meikle win PDC Tour Cards". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
6. "2016 PDC Qualifying School Day Three". PDC. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
7. "Jeffrey de Graaf secures Tour Card on 2016 PDC circuit". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
8. "2016 PDC Qualifying School Day Four". PDC. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
9. "Final PDC Tour qualifiers are confirmed in Wigan". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
10. "Lewis Powers To Wigan Title". PDC. 5 February 2016.
11. "Super van Gerwen Wins in Wigan". PDC. 6 February 2016.
12. "Taylor Defeats van Gerwen To Take Title". PDC. 7 February 2016.
13. "Win Seals Anderson's UK Open Spot". PDC. 19 February 2016.
14. "Van Gerwen Continues Winning Run". PDC. 20 February 2016.
15. "Qualifying Treble For van Gerwen". PDC. 21 February 2016.
16. "Wright Edges Lewis For PC1 Victory". PDC. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
17. "Brilliant Bunting Denies Nine-Dart van Gerwen". PDC. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
18. "Barnsley Title for van Gerwen". PDC. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
19. "Maiden ProTour Win For Big Ben". PDC. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
20. "White's Whitewash Seals Barnsley Win". PDC. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
21. "Payne Edges Out Wade For Maiden Title". PDC. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
22. "The Price Is Wright For Gerwyn in Barnsley". PDC. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
23. "Superb van Gerwen's Dutch Masters Treble". PDC. 14 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
24. "Quantock & Lynn Up To The Challenge!". PDC. 19 March 2016.
25. "Quantock & Lynn Up To The Challenge!". PDC. 19 March 2016.
26. "Edhouse & de Hoog Win In Wigan". PDC. 20 March 2016.
27. "Edhouse & de Hoog Win In Wigan". PDC. 20 March 2016.