In 2025, the PDC have announced European Tour rules will change again. This latest change means there will be more protection for the top players than ever before, in the process making life harder for all those outside the top 16. This has proven a controversial change, leading to criticism from many players, the latest of which is Josh Rock.
The top 16 in the world rankings, who were granted automatic entry to the tournaments for the first time in 2024, will now automatically advance to the second round. This means that big names such as Michael Van Gerwen, Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and especially Nathan Aspinall, who currently is outside the qualification spots for the World Grand Prix and other majors, will have multiple chances to qualify without using the Players Championship circuit
The Top 16 of the ProTour Order of Merit will be seeded for the first round, meaning 32 players are pre-qualified: the top 16 in the world rankings the 16 highest ranked ProTour players, and 16 qualifiers.
“There’s no point in having the Pro Tour Order of Merit if you work hard and, in the end, it won’t work for you! The Pro Tour Order of Merit got you into the Saturday, and I was sitting No.7. Now, they’ve changed it to the top 16 in the world," Rock says of the situation. "I’m hovering about there, so I’ll be in and out until I get a bit of a breakaway from Michael Smith - because we’re sitting in the same position."
'Rocky' thus disagrees with the new rules. “I disagree with it, but I don’t make the rules... So I'll have to get on with it!" Rock assesses.
“You want to be in that top 16, so you’re playing on the Saturday, and you don’t have to travel the Thursday to play Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Instead, you just travel on Friday, play on Saturday and Sunday, and then go home on Monday," he concludes, admitting it will now drive him and those others on the verge of the top 16. “I think it’ll give me more drive to compete in other tournaments!"
Delighted to be joining #TeamTarget from now on, it's a fantastic team to be a part of and I can't wait to get going 🔥
— Josh Rock (@joshrock18002) January 22, 2025
Best kept secret in darts 😉 pic.twitter.com/n0S4n0Tru4