PDC Order of Merit Update: Stephen Bunting strengthens World No.4 as Jonny Clayton rises amid latest run

While Bunting lost in the final of Players Championship 24 on Monday, 'The Bullet' was victorious at Players Championship 25 on Tuesday. The dart player from St. Helens captured his second floor title of the season by defeating Jonny Clayton in a thrilling final.

Bunting survived a last leg-decider in his first round against Michele Turetta (6-5), who then delivered a rock-solid tournament. In his four subsequent matches, he threw an average of (well) above 105 each time, culminating in a 111.66 moyenne in his second-round match against Mario Vandenbogaerde (6-2). He then also beat Ritchie Edhouse (6-3), Cor Dekker (6-2) and Wessel Nijman (6-1). In the semifinals, Bunting did have to play again, but after a leg-decider, William O'Connor was still beaten 7-6. Clayton then faced the world number four in the final, 8-6.

Bunting maintained this position after winning the title, although he did extend his lead over James Wade and Clayton. The latter moved up two places because of his final place, while the absent Gerwyn Price actually lost two places and is now the number eight in the world. Gary Anderson, on the other hand, rose without playing. He took over the eleventh spot in the rankings from Josh Rock, who also dazzled by absence from the Pro Tour twosome.

Jermaine Wattimena passed Andrew Gilding and is now 25th in the world rankings. There were also minor progressions for Scott Williams (36th), Wessel Nijman (39th) and Callan Rydz (41st) who all moved up one spot. By contrast, Brendan Dolan (37th), Gabriel Clemens (40th) and Kevin Doets (42nd) all lost one spot in the world rankings.

Tour Card Race

Someone else who did good business is Alan Soutar. The Scot beat James Wade, Dave Chisnall and Daryl Gurney, among others, and reached the quarterfinals twice. This earned him a combined £7,000 in prize money. Soutar is also now virtually guaranteed participation in the Players Championship Finals and the World Darts Championship, which also virtually guarantees him retention of his PDC Tour Card for next season. Soutar is now ranked No. 53 on the PDC Order of Merit and is one spot behind De Graaf.

The successes of De Graaf and Soutar meant that Keane Barry (-1), Matt Campbell (-2), Connor Scutt (-1), Jose de Sousa (-2) and Jim Williams (-2) all had to lose positions. Behind them, Ryan Meikle also fell back from the 60th spot to the 63rd positions,while Stephen Burton (+1) and Mensur Suljovic (+2) actually moved up and slightly increased their chances of keeping their PDC Tour Card.

Karel Sedlacek also did excellent business with an eye on his Tour Card. The Czech only started his two-year Tour Card period this year and after almost three-quarters of a year is already in 75th place with £43,500 in prize money. Sedlacek thus still has over a year to secure a spot in the top 64 to gain entry to the lucrative Pro Tour tournaments in 2027 as well.

PDC Order of Merit