With PDC Qualifying Schools now complete and the 128 PDC Tour Card holders confirmed for 2025, stats supremo Richard Ashdown crunches the numbers and examines the new names that will star on the professional circuit over the next 12 months...
Since the Professional Darts Corporation adopted its Tour Card system in 2011, 444 different players have been named in the annual list of 128 elite.
As we enter a 15th season of the PDC’s ProTour, we say goodbye to 31 players, as seven former Tour Card holders return and 24 join the professional ranks for the first time.
TOUR CARDS NO MORE
After 14 years as PDC professionals, five familiar names are missing for the first time in 2025. Still ranked inside the top 64 on the Order of Merit, Steve Beaton has decided to leave the professional tour behind.
Vincent van der Voort drops out of the top 64, along with Adrian Lewis who hasn’t competed since March 2023.
Still eager for more, both Simon Whitlock and Mervyn King hoped for an immediate return via UK Q School but failed to make it through in Milton Keynes.
A total of 31 players from 2024 have lost their Tour Cards, with 23 of those attempting but failing to make it through Q School.
Notable names missing out this time around are Rowby-John Rodriguez (having held a Tour Card in ten of the last 11 years), Jamie Hughes (Tour Card Holder since 2019), Boris Krčmar (since 2020) and Adam Gawlas (since 2021).
Having opted not to take part at Q School, we also say goodbye to Geert Nentjes after six seasons as a professional and Ronny Huybrechts, a Tour Card Holder 2013-2019 before returning in 2023-2024.
TWO-YEARS ONLY
Of the 29 players ending their two-year Tour Card ranked outside of the top 64 in the PDC’s main order of merit at the end of 2024, 20 of them will not be returning in 2025.
Keegan Brown failed to qualify in Milton Keynes, ending a run of 13 years, with Josh Payne missing out on making it 12 seasons on the ProTour since 2013.
Jeffrey de Zwaan hoped to continue his ten-year professional career, but didn’t make it through European Q School in Kalkar.
The other 2023/2024 Tour Card Holders not to make it through Q School were Lee Evans, Callum Goffin, Graham Hall, Daniel Klose, Robbie Knops, Jacques Labre, Arron Monk, Christian Perez, Owen Roelofs, Adam Smith-Neale, Jeffrey Sparidaans, Danny van Trijp, Graham Usher and Jurjen van der Velde.
(Leighton Bennett, Paul Krohne & Pascal Rupprecht complete the list of 31 players leaving the PDC Pro Tour)
YEAR AFTER YEAR
The number of players having held Tour Cards through their PDC ranking status and never to compete at Q-School since the ProTour was introduced in 2011 has now dropped from 14 to nine.
Those remaining ever present for 15 years are Gary Anderson, Joe Cullen, Brendan Dolan, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Mensur Suljovic, James Wade, Ian White and Peter Wright.
William O’Connor is also ever-present but had to navigate two Q School returns along the way.
Raymond van Barneveld only missed a single year during his “retirement” in 2020 before returning via Q School.
Similarly, Jelle Klaasen is set to start his 13th season in 15 years having returned after a two-year absence in 2024.
Having won through the first PDC Q School in 2011, Dave Chisnall is one of 12 players to have maintained an ever-present 15-year record, along with Mickey Mansell who had to get through Q School a further two times to stay on the professional tour.
Ross Smith maintains 14 years straight on the Pro Tour since 2012, with Andrew Gilding beginning his 12th season in 14 years, having both won through Q School on three occasions along the way.
Ricky Evans and Daryl Gurney each start year 13 as PDC players, Gerwyn Price his 12th, since first winning through Q School.
It’s also a 12th year for Stephen Bunting since gaining his Tour Card as 2014 Lakeside champion.
CARDS RETAINED
Amongst the 877 that entered Q School for 2025, 26 Tour Card Holders from 2024 were hoping to bounce straight back, having dropped out of the top 64.
However, only three of them succeeded in doing so, the lowest number of Tour Card Holders from the previous year to have returned through Q School.
Maik Kuivenhoven won the fourth and final day outright in Kalkar, getting through Q School for a third time in his career and securing a seventh consecutive year on the ProTour.
Karel Sedláček joined him in sealing an immediate return, making it through for a third time in six years.
In Milton Keynes, it was Adam Warner that secured two more years on tour, having previously won through Q School to compete in 2023/2024.
Surely the ambition for any Tour Card Holder is to be inside the top 64 of the PDC’s main two-year Order of Merit by the end of their second season.
Six players with 2023/2024 Tour Cards managed to do exactly that, with Richard Veenstra (47), Niels Zonneveld (48), Dylan Slevin (57), Robert Owen (58), Stephen Burton (60) and Nick Kenny (64) each retaining their professional status for 2025.
Finishing inside the top 64 in the first year with a new Tour Card is even more impressive, but that is exactly what Wessel Nijman (55), and Jeffrey de Graaf (63) achieved in 2024, just as Gian van Veen did in 2023.
CARDS REGAINED
Rarer still, is earning a Tour Card automatically via the PDC Order of Merit as an associate member (non-Tour Card holder) by finishing inside the Top 64 in a single year.
Connor Scutt (61) becomes the 14th player across 14 years of the ProTour to do so and only the fourth in the past seven years (after Krzysztof Ratajski in 2019, Scott Williams in 2023 and Luke Littler in 2024).
Having previously held a Tour Card in 2022/2023, Scutt is just the third player to have lost his Tour Card and later return to the professional ranks in this way (following Joe Murnan in 2016 and Zoran Lerchbacher in 2018).
Having gained 2022/23 Tour Cards via the Development Tour Order of Merit but missing out in 2024, both Bradley Brooks and Rusty-Jake Rodriguez return to the ProTour via Q School in 2025.
Brooks made it through for a third time in eight years by topping the points table in Milton Keynes.
Four more players make welcome returns to the PDC ranks. Following two years away, Max Hopp secured a second and Andy Boulton a third Tour Card via Q School for their eighth and ninth seasons respectively, with Tytus Kanik also returning for a second time after a five-year absence.
Having previously held a Tour Card between 2014-2019, Christian Kist regains his professional status through the 2024 Challenge Tour.
CHALLENGE/DEVELOPMENT TOUR
With the Challenge Tour Order of Merit topped by Scutt (but already inside the PDC’s Top 64), second-placed Wesley Plaisier earns his first Tour Card after an excellent 2024, along with Kist in third.
A tried and tested way to progress into the professional ranks, with Rob Cross, Ryan Searle, Callan Rydz, Ritchie Edhouse, Matt Campbell and Jim Williams all remaining on tour since earning their Tour Cards via the Challenge Tour.
Going into year two, Owen Bates will look to follow in their footsteps, as will Berry van Peer, having previously gained Tour Cards through the Development Tour (in 2016/2017 and 2021/2022).
Likewise, current players Dimitri Van den Bergh, Luke Humphries, Ryan Meikle and Keane Barry each secured their PDC status via the Development Tour.
Aiming to join that list are two new Tour Card Holders. Niko Springer (second in 2024, behind Nijman) and Sebastian Białecki (fifth, behind Barry and Rafferty).
Nathan Rafferty will hope for a stronger second year on the ProTour this time around, having previously earned Tour Cards via Q School (2022/2023) and then from the Development Tour (2024/2025).
NATIONS, NUMBERS & NEWBIES
21 more players will make their debuts of the PDC’s ProTour in 2025, each having graduated through Q School.
For the fifth time in six years, the 128 Tour Card holders hail from 23 different countries (only bettered by 24 nations in 2021).
With Cor Dekker topping the European Q School Order of Merit, Norway become the 35th different nation to feature on the Tour Card list.
Sweden boasts three players for the first time, with de Graaf joined by Q School graduates Viktor Tingström and Oskar Lukasiak.
This means there will be a total of six professionals from the Nordic & Baltic region in 2025 (eclipsing their previous best of 4 in 2011/2020) with Denmark’s Benjamin Reus beginning his second year and Latvia’s Madars Razma playing his ninth consecutive season.
North America now has four players in the PDC, with Canadian Jim Long winning through Q School on the final day in Milton Keynes to join Campbell, who begins his fourth year on the ProTour.
Meanwhile, USA’s Danny Lauby and Jules van Dongen each commence year two of their current Tour Card.
Despite three Dutch-born players now bearing the flags of Norway (Dekker), Sweden (de Graaf) and USA (van Dongen), the Netherlands are still very well represented with 21 Tour Card Holders of their own (following 22 in 2023 and 24 in 2024).
It was double-Dutch debutant delight at Q School, with Dennie Olde-Kalter winning on Day Three and then Marvin van Velzen taking the last of 12 additional qualifying spots on points earned in Kalkar.
Entering their second year, Martijn Dragt, Patrick Geeraerts, Chris Landman and Jitse van der Wal will hope to join the likes of Jermaine Wattimena, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Danny Noppert and Kevin Doets as PDC regulars, having all previously won through Q School.
Germany’s yearly progression continues with a record 12 representatives on the 2025 ProTour (following six in 2023 and nine in 2024).
Established professionals Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens, Florian Hempel and Ricardo Pietreczko will be reunited with the returning Hopp, as Lukas Wenig and Tim Wolters begin their second year.
There are also five German debutants (including Springer from the Development Tour), with Kai Gotthardt earning his Tour Card by winning on the second day of Q School, plus Maximilian Czerwinski, Dominik Grüllich and Leon Weber joining him via the Order of Merit.
Poland also has their highest number of four Tour Card holders (previously 3, in 2022 and 2023) as Radek Szaganski begins the second year of his current term, alongside Ratajski, Kanik and Białecki.
The progress of so many nations across Europe has impacted the number of English players in the PDC, with a record low of 43 in 2025.
It has been a downward trend since a record high of 87 from England in 2012.
However, in Milton Keynes, eight of the 13 available spots were claimed by Englishmen earning Tour Cards for the first time.
Tom Bissell, Justin Hood and Tavis Dudeney won the first three days outright, with Cam Crabtree, Adam Lipscombe, Thomas Lovely, Adam Paxton and Darryl Pilgrim joining them with points accumulated across four days of play.
With eight Englishmen going into the second year of their current Tour Card having won through Q School 12 months ago, Brett Claydon, Matthew Dennant, Robert Grundy, Adam Hunt, James Hurrell, George Killington, Joshua Richardson and Dom Taylor hope to buck the trend and maintain their status on the professional tour.
They would follow a long list of English names having already achieved that feat, including Chris Dobey, Nathan Aspinall, Ryan Joyce, Luke Woodhouse and Martin Lukeman.
Scotland’s numbers increase by two in 2025, with Q School success for new addition Greg Ritchie and the returning Boulton, taking their total to eight players on the Pro Tour.
With Darren Beveridge and William Borland looking to keep their Tour Cards in year two, just as Alan Soutar and Cameron Menzies have done so previously.
Belgian Stefaan Henderyck also made it through Q School, as Andy Baetens and Mario Vandenbogaerde begin year two of their current card and Mike De Decker goes into his sixth consecutive year on the ProTour.
Both Belgium and Wales’ numbers decrease from seven to six players holding Tour Cards in 2025.
Rhys Griffin starts his second year and hopes to follow that same progression from Q School to ProTour regular as Jonny Clayton, who will begin his 11th season with the PDC.
Northern Ireland (5), Republic of Ireland (4) and Austria (2) numbers remain the same in 2025.
Josh Rock enters his fourth year on the ProTour, Steve Lennon his ninth (starting year two of his current Tour Card) and Rusty-Jake replaces his older brother Rowby-John on the list of Tour Card Holders.
Despite Boris Krčmar having lost his Tour Card after five years in the PDC, Croatia’s participation continues courtesy of new Q School graduate Pero Ljubić.
With Whitlock, Labre and Gawlas each having lost their Tour Card, Australia’s Damon Heta and France’s Thibault Tricole join Czechia’s Sedlacek and Denmark’s Reus as their nation’s sole representatives on the ProTour.
Latvia’s Razma and Norway’s Dekker are amongst those remaining as the only current players to have ever held Tour Cards for their respective country.
Italy’s Michele Turetta and New Zealand’s Haupai Puha go into their second season, while José de Sousa flies the flag for Portugal for a seventh year in a row.