The PDC European Tour is a series of darts tournaments held across Europe organized by the Professional Darts Corporation . Starting in 2012 with five events, the number of events has steadily risen with eight held in 2013 and 2014, nine in 2015, 10 in 2016, 12 in 2017, 13 in both 2018 and 2019. There were 13 scheduled in 2020 (although that was reduced to four, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic ). Only two events took place in 2021, with a return to 13 events in 2022, 2023 and 2024, then 14 in 2025.
33-538: These events see the top players on the PDC Order of Merit and PDC ProTour Order of Merit compete against players from a tour card holder qualifier and three different regional qualifiers. Currently the prize fund for each tournament is £175,000, with £30,000 going to the winner. These events differ from others held on the Pro Tour as they are played on one board in front of an audience. They are not televised, but are streamed on
66-554: A dart at bullseye to win his first round match with Jan van der Rassel and then lost 2–3 (6–4 in legs in the final set). Lloyd's poor form at the 2009 World Championship continued as he lost in straight sets to the Netherlands ' Jelle Klaasen in the first round. After winning his first round match at the 2009 World Matchplay against Wayne Jones , Lloyd announced that he had just recovered from swine flu and had been placed in isolation for five days. Whilst playing Andree Welge in
99-465: A gap of just over 5 years between nine-darters, the so-called "Curse of Ross Smith " hung over the European Tour, named after Smith, who got his in the 2013 Gibraltar Darts Trophy . Since Michael van Gerwen broke the curse at the 2018 European Darts Matchplay , there have been six more nine-dart finishes. PDC Order of Merit The PDC Order of Merit is a world ranking system used by one of
132-428: A run to the semi-finals of the 2007 UK Open . But he continued to lose ranking places as his good results from the two-year ranking period were replaced with further first round losses to Wes Newton at the 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic and to Mervyn King at the 2007 World Matchplay . He went into the 2008 World Championship ranked 12th in the world, having been number one just twelve months previously. He missed
165-584: Is a £60,000 payout, and the finalists receive tour cards as well as berths in the Grand Slam and World Championship. 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
198-476: 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. 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: The PDC rankings from all orders of merit determine exemptions from the qualifying competitions and seedings for all televised events. Additionally,
231-521: 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
264-415: Is the worst year I've ever had. It's been an abysmal year. If I get six months into next year and feel I'm not competing at the level I want to, then that will be the time to take a step back". He began 2015 as the world number 41. However, his form did not improve as he could not qualify for a single major tournament and only advanced to the last 32 once in the 31 events he played in. He dropped to 121st in
297-484: The 2006 World Matchplay and to Bob Anderson in the first round of the World Grand Prix . He lost his world number one ranking after a second round loss to eventual world champion van Barneveld at the 2007 PDC World Championship . He had led 3–0 in sets , failed with four match darts, and eventually lost 3–4. Lloyd lost in the first round of the 2007 US Open to Jim Widmayer before showing some improvement with
330-433: The 2015 World Championship as he was 35th on the Order of Merit before the event, outside of the top 32 who automatically earn their places, and was not successful via any other method of qualification; it marked the first World Championship since 1999 to not feature Lloyd, and he vowed to retire if his poor form continued into 2015, saying "I'm not going to say I'm finished yet, because I think I'm far from finished. But this
363-630: The COVID-19 pandemic , the only two events held that year took place in Hungary and Gibraltar . In 2024, only six of the 13 events will be in Germany. Prize money for European Tour events rose to £175,000 in 2023. The prize fund has been divided as follows: Thirteen nine-darters have been thrown on the European Tour. The first one was thrown by Michael Smith in the inaugural tournament in Austria in 2012 . After
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#1733085772687396-516: The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) – the 2004 World Grand Prix and the 2005 World Matchplay . A former builder, Lloyd broke onto the scene in 1999, making his TV debut the same year, In the first round he beating Scott Cummings 10–8, thrashing Alan Warriner 13–2 in the second round and the quarter-finals losing to Peter Manley 16–8 of the 1999 PDC World Matchplay. His World Championship debut came in 2000 – but he lost in
429-505: The UK Open for the first time in the tournament's history this year as he only entered three of the six qualifying events and failed to advance beyond the last 64 in any of them. Lloyd also failed to qualify for both the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix for the first time in 2014. He could not get past the last 64 of any event he entered during the season. Lloyd failed to qualify for
462-506: The 2004 World Grand Prix , where he beat Warriner in the final. His success in the non-televised PDC Pro Tour events saw his world ranking continue to rise. By April 2005 he had reached world number one – a position he held (with a brief interruption in June 2006) for almost two years. Soon after becoming World Number One he added the 2005 World Matchplay title in Blackpool , beating John Part in
495-581: The 2011 PDC World Darts Championship first round, Lloyd punched the dart board out of frustration from letting slip a 2–0 lead to be all square at 2–2. Despite this, he eventually won the match 3–2 with a 116 out shot, and after the match said that he regretted what he did and said it was born out of pure frustration. He comfortably made it to the last 16 of the 2012 World Championship by beating Darin Young and Scott Rand , 3–1 and 4–1 respectively. However, he struggled against world number four Gary Anderson in
528-711: The BDO set up and Bobby George and many of the non-UK players never competed in the early days of the WDC. Colin Lloyd Players Championships UK Open Regionals/Qualifiers Nine dart finish – Irish Masters 2006 (non-televised) Colin Edward Lloyd (born 7 August 1973), nicknamed Jaws , is an English former professional darts player. He is a former world number-one ranked player and has won two major television titles in
561-476: 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
594-570: The Order of Merit, with none counting from the unranked events. Unranked Tournaments The PDC operates additional unranked tournaments for tour card holders and occasional qualifiers throughout the year. This includes five televised premier invitational events comprising the Premier League , Champions League of Darts , World Series of Darts Finals , The Masters , and the World Cup of Darts pairs event. Although none of these events count toward
627-600: The PDC's subscription service. Since 2016, the end of the European Tour marks the end of qualification for the European Championship , with the top 32 players on the European Tour Order of Merit comprising the field for the televised premier event. For the majority of time since its inception in 2012, the majority of PDC European Tour events have been held in Germany . The only exception being in 2021, when owing to
660-541: The ProTour Order of Merit. Lloyd faced Mark Webster in the first round and was defeated 6–10. After all 33 ProTour events of 2012 had been played, Lloyd was 16th on the Order of Merit, which qualified him for the Players Championship Finals where he was beaten by Peter Wright 5–6 in the first round, after being 5–3 ahead. Lloyd overcame Darin Young and Mark Webster to face Michael van Gerwen in
693-506: 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. The Order of Merit is not 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
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#1733085772687726-568: The final of the International Darts League in the Netherlands in May 2006, losing to Raymond van Barneveld . A heavy 2–11 defeat to Taylor at the 2006 UK Open saw his form in televised events dip dramatically. He lost in the first round of the 2006 Las Vegas Desert Classic to Chris Mason , to Steve Maish (despite a ten-dart leg where he was two darts away from a nine dart finish ) at
759-425: The final, hitting 15 180s and ending the match on a maximum 170 checkout. He also reached the final of the 2005 World Grand Prix before losing 1–7 to Phil Taylor . This good form made him second favourite in the 2006 World Championship , only behind Taylor in terms of odds. Unfortunately for Lloyd, he was knocked out in the first round by qualifier Gary Welding, having led 2–0 in the best-of-five match. He reached
792-420: The first round to Shayne Burgess . After another first round loss at the 2001 World Championships, his major breakthrough was in the 2002 PDC World Championship, where he reached the semi-finals, losing to Peter Manley 6–4. He had beaten Alex Roy , Warriner and Richie Burnett to reach the semi-finals that established him as one of the top players on the PDC circuit. His long-awaited first major title came in
825-507: The last 16 of the 2013 World Championship , and was beaten 4–1. He lost 9–8 to Brendan Dolan in the third round of the UK Open . Lloyd lost each of the five opening legs to Van Gerwen in the first round of the World Matchplay but made a fightback to trail just 7–6 before being eliminated 10–7. Lloyd's best result of 2013 was at the Austrian Darts Open where he beat the likes of Andy Hamilton (6–0) and Wes Newton (6–4) to reach
858-486: The last 32. Lloyd hit a nine-dart finish in the first round of the European Tour Event 2 during a 6–5 win over Alex Roy . In July, he won the tenth Players Championship of the year, his first ranking title in almost 2 years. He beat Andy Hamilton 6–5 in the final and briefly returned to the top 16. He was ranked 17th at the cut-off point before the World Matchplay , but still qualified due to his position on
891-514: 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. 13 players have held the position of World Number One since the World Darts Council started new rankings in 1993. Seven different players held
924-704: 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
957-410: The next round, losing 1–4 as his opponent averaged 100. In April, Lloyd dropped out of the world's top 16 for the first time in over a decade and will need to qualify for the upcoming major events if he does not regain his place. In his next major event, the UK Open , Lloyd posted an encouraging result by defeating reigning champion James Wade 9–5, but then lost to world number 48 Joe Cullen 8–9 in
990-491: The orders of merit are used to offer tour cards for the following year. 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
1023-626: 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. 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
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1056-408: The semi-finals and another meeting with Van Gerwen with Lloyd losing 6–2. He twice came from a set down to level his first round match at 2–2 in the 2014 World Championship against Beau Anderson . Lloyd then missed 11 darts in the final set to break throw as all ten legs went with throw to send the match into a sudden-death leg which Anderson won to eliminate Lloyd. Lloyd missed out on playing in
1089-412: The world after the 2016 World Championship and announced he would not be entering Q School, although he did not rule out the possibility of attempting to return in the future. Lloyd qualified for the first three Premier League tournaments between 2005 and 2007 – the tournament was restricted to the top six ranked players in the PDC and one wildcard in 2005 and 2006, while in 2007, it was restricted to
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