In his latest column, PDC Stats Analyst Christopher Kempf looks at the world's top 32 players with the most ranking money to defend over the coming months, as we approach the business end of the 2023 season...
Over £2.5million - nearly 30% of all ranking money on offer during the year - is at stake on the PDC Order of Merit during the last two months of the season.
There is no better time to be in form, both for the sake of maintaining one's ranking position and preparation for the World Darts Championship in December.
However, for some players, even winning tournaments is not enough to advance on the Order of Merit if they are defending large amounts of prize money won at this point in 2021.
Though we can't yet predict who will qualify for each TV ranking tournament [after the World Grand Prix] through to the end of the year, we can use provisional qualifications to estimate which players are the most at risk of dropping down the table, and which have the best opportunity for advancement.
The next two months will be of critical importance to Rob Cross' position in the Order of Merit more than anyone else.
More than one quarter of his ranking money is at risk, mainly due to the expiry of his massive £120,000 winner's cheque as 2021 European Champion, which alone represents more than one-fifth of all the money he has earned over the past two years.
Perhaps it is a good omen that Cross, after seven years of failure, won the first European Tour event of his career in 2023, but even those £30,000 earnings are not much insurance against a loss when he returns to the continent to try and win back the title.
With more than one million pounds currently in his Order of Merit account, Peter Wright is not at imminent risk of any substantial change to his ranking.
Nevertheless, without appearing in a ranking TV final for nearly two years, his position as world number three will be in grave danger come December as he prepares to defend his 2022 World Champion winner's prize.
The colourful Scot was not only the 2021 Players Championship Finals winner, but was also a runner up at the 2021 Grand Slam, capping off an extraordinary year of performances defined most memorably by his World Matchplay semi-final defeat of Michael van Gerwen.
However, 2023 has yielded unexpectedly few titles for Wright, with erratic performances raising doubt about his ability to mount a second 'ranking defence' of his World Championship crown, and poor results between now and January could potentially see Wright slip out of the top 10 altogether.
Two players who are currently on the chopping block for inclusion in the top 16 are James Wade and Ryan Searle, both of whom will be defending more than 15% of their Order of Merit totals in the coming months.
Without frequent appearances in TV finals, it's difficult for any player to reach such heights in the rankings, and neither Wade nor Searle have managed one since January 2022.
Wade in particular will have about 40% of his Order of Merit total at risk in the next three months, including his £100,000 semi-finalist prize at the 2022 World Championship.
Searle, meanwhile, has more than 10% at risk in only one event, the upcoming Players Championship Finals in Minehead. Neither player will remain in the top 16 without at least one quarter-final or semi-final appearance.
2021 was a lean year for Dirk van Duijvenbode, who failed to qualify for either the European Championship or the Grand Slam, and the Dutchman was also eliminated in his first match at the Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals.
But, now that van Duijvenbode is securely lodged within the world's top 16 on the back of multiple Pro Tour titles and runner-up prizes, his qualification for most events is now secured.
That means that even if the 'Aubergenius' loses every ranking match between now and December, he will still nearly break even in the rankings with a tiny loss of £250.
Van Duijvenbode is currently projected to finish the year just £35,000 behind Danny Noppert, although only one final or semi-final appearance could cause him to usurp his Frisian rival as the Dutch number two.
Andrew Gilding has an even brighter future due to his incredible Pro Tour revival over the past year. Among the TV ranking events of 2021, 'Goldfinger' qualified for only the UK Open - now he is the reigning UK Open champion and stands poised to qualify for every ranking event in the foreseeable future.
Due to minimum prizes from his provisional qualifications in events like the European Championship and Players Championship Finals, in which he did not appear in 2021, Gilding will, in all likelihood, break into the top 16 for the first time even if he does not win a leg over the next two months.
Gilding's appearance as one of the top seeds in the 2023/2024 World Darts Championship will represent one of the most unlikely reversals of fortune for a darts player's career.
Finally, Josh Rock is not even two years into his professional career, but is knocking on the door of the top 16. With no ranking money to defend from the 2021 season, Rock's Order of Merit position can only improve.
In a worst case scenario, the Northern Irishman will finish the year as the number 23 seed at the World Championship, but less than £100,000 separates him from a year-end ranking of 15th.
There are great expectations for this most-vaunted young player in darts, and if his previous TV exploits against elite players like Nathan Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen are any indication, his upward progress will be unstoppable.