Danger looms for Michael van Gerwen? Projected PDC Order of Merit spells drop also for Cross, Bunting as Littler remains untouchable

Looking into the future is an exciting part of the game but not for some who will have immediate worries in the coming months about defending Prize Money and a lot of it which is where the future PDC Order of Merit will come into play.

Adding all the data for the coming months including the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix among others it adds a minimum projection based on these numbers as to whether or not they qualify for these events currently and what kind of Order of Merit hit they would take if they didn't.

At the top of the tree, Luke Littler is currently ahead of Luke Humphries with a huge gap and with money dropping off, Gian van Veen looks to likely make himself the clear World No.2 due to what Humphries needs to defend but Littler while the gap will decrease due to him finally needing to defend titles, he will still remain clear.

Currently with money added and taken off, he would be on £2,162,000 compared to £840,250 for Van Veen with Humphries adrift on £701,500. Albeit it is important to note that one good run could change this but based on all players managing to at least qualify, it likely spells further dominance for Littler even if his Prize Money is decreased due to the amount he has to defend.

Gerwyn Price too is one of the big winners and will likely be back in the top four at the moment come the end of the season. With the Premier League being decided based initially on the top four automatically, he would by proxy alleviate any sort of doubt about qualifying for that and would spell his real return to the darting elite.

While further down Luke Woodhouse is projected to move into the top 20 in the world and edging towards top 16 contention. Wessel Nijman too is up to 12th on projected moves moving further up the top 16. He has been a real standout this season in particular on the ProTour and continues to grow. While Niko Springer is up to 31st currently showing his marked rise as he is projected to make his top 32 debut.

The biggest drop comes from Michael van Gerwen with heavy pressure in the coming months to defend a huge percentage of Prize Money. As of right now, he is down to World No.20 based off current projections from World No.4.

This comes after an 18 months to forget in regards to issues with his personal life and he has shown fits and starts when it comes to a return to form but not sustained and for a winning machine, that catches up on the two year cycle and could see MVG leave the darting elite for the first time in many a year.

Stephen Bunting too who was the huge talking point pick for the Premier League earlier in the season is projected to move down to World No.13 from 9th so also has work to do. While Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall could be in the position that Dimitri van den Bergh is in regards to fighting for their futures next season as they are projected to fall down to 26th and 32nd in the rankings after being top 10 just last year.

Speaking of Van den Bergh is also projected to lose his Tour Card. While he has shown signs in recent months that he still has the game in his locker, it is very much too little too late it seems unless a big run comes from somewhere but qualifying for events is also an issue and one that will likely send him down the trap door.

Just inside the top 64, Max Hopp, Adam Lipscombe and Martin Lukeman are just projected to keep their Tour Cards and for many that is due solely to a World Championship qualification so that will likely shape this. Kim Huybrechts who looked in danger too will likely save his skin for that reason. While of the new Tour Card Holders, Cristo Reyes, Beau Greaves and Adam Gawlas are currently seen as the top players post their first year just outside the top 70.

Albeit most such as Greaves will qualify or have qualified for majors so the minimum money boosted with a run could see them even finish inside the top 64 in the first year.

(as per dartsrankings.com)