"I have to be better... But I can't play the comps I was doing every night of the week anymore. I'm not allowed" - Danny Lauby Jr. on struggles of improving with Tour Card

After showing his talents on the MODUS Super Series, the WDF circuit and even a couple of PDC World Darts Championship appearances, Danny Lauby Jr. finally managed to secure himself a PDC Tour Card at Q-School earlier this year.

"It was an amazing feeling. I don't get emotional very much but that was..." Lauby trails off when recalling the day he won his Tour Card in conversation with Online Darts. "When they were like 'You're in. You got it regardless if you lose this next game,' I still wanted to win the next game obviously but there was this feeling of the plane had landed, this actually happened and yeah, it was emotional."

It wasn't the first time Lauby had tried either, coming close a few times before ultimately falling short at Q-School in the past. "I don't know how many other Americans have gone to the UK one and got a Tour Card outright, but I know I've tried several times between Wigan and Milton Keynes, so it was a really emotional moment for me."

Having been so active however, the securing of a Tour Card also brings a different challenge for the American. "It's almost ironic that now I have to play against the best in the world, I have to be better and I have to level up, but I get less time in the gym kind of thing because I'm not allowed. I can't play the comps I was doing every night of the week anymore. I'm not allowed," he explains. 

With this, Lauby refers to the tournaments of the Amateur Darts Circuit (ADC) he played until his Tour Card period. Places at the MODUS Super Series can be earned through the ADC Tour. Because this tournament is televised, the PDC does not allow their players to participate in the ADC tournaments.

"But somehow, I still have to level up. So the practice time with people and the mental game really mean something now," Lauby concludes. "I know everyone on the Pro Tour has got that same struggle obviously, but no, it's just different."