With the start of the new season, the fight to defend the prize money begins Order of Merit PDC and some big names in 2025 are even at risk of dropping out of the top 16 or, in some cases, losing their tour tickets.
Matthew Edgar’s video on his Edgar TV channel lists names that are most likely to drop out of the top 16. One of them was Gerwyn’s price.
Price won £118,000 in 2024 until the World Championships when he won £50,000, topping it up by over 30%. In total it earned £168,000. He is defending a figure of £312,000 from last year, which is 65% of his total ranking.
This includes two European Tour titles and four ProTour titles. However, most of them fall at the end of the year, so a good start to 2025 would allow for the removal of some of the burden. For example, £60,000 at the World Grand Prix also requires defending. A TV title may be needed for Price.
Nathan Aspinall this is another amount that will reach £140,000 in 2024. 70% of his ranking money is up for grabs, with £200,000 of that going to World Matchplay. Even if he wins a tournament like the UK Open, he is still at risk of dropping out of the top 16.
Can Nathan Aspinall stop the decline?
Michael Smith dropped out of the top 16 at the end of 2024. He defends £221,000, last year he earned £184,000. The difference is around £40,000, but most of his money is transferred at the beginning of the year. He is currently not taking part in the World Matchplay, especially considering that without it he will not be able to take advantage of the European Tour comfort package awarded to the top 16 elite.
Brendan Dolan is in the top 32, but will defend 62% of his prize money and will currently also not qualify for the World Matchplay. The exact £169,000 he is defending.
Edgar also mentioned in his video about Jose de Souza. He is currently ranked 45th in the world and has raised £25,000 just last year, with 81% of his prize money falling in defense of £113,000. So his Tour Card is at risk.
