PDC Order of Merit: Michael van Gerwen has virtually lost second spot, Ross Smith may dream of top-10 debut

The second round of the World Matchplay is over and that means the first changes are visible on the PDC Order of Merit. Eight players are still in the race for the title at the World Matchplay in Blackpool.

Top favorite Luke Humphries remains the world number one after this tournament anyway. 'Cool Hand Luke' lost in the first round of the World Matchplay two years back and thus has hardly any prize money to defend. A title at the Winter Gardens would only further increase the lead over his closest pursuers.

Michael van Gerwen started the tournament as world number two, but has lost the second spot to Michael Smith for the time being. Van Gerwen took the title at the World Matchplay two years ago, and thus must defend the prize money won at that edition. 'Mighty Mike' can only take over the second spot from Smith if he takes the title again, but then 'Bullyboy' may not get past the quarter-finals.

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Rob Cross is going to rise in the world rankings no matter what after the World Matchplay. 'Voltage' has temporarily traded the sixth spot for the fourth position. With a title in Blackpool, Cross can significantly narrow his gap to Smith and Van Gerwen in particular.

Dimitri van den Bergh has virtually lost one spot on the PDC Order of Merit. If 'The Dreammaker' manages to shock Humphries on Thursday night, he will have his ninth spot back. Upon reaching the final, a sixth spot glows, while a title could even put Van den Bergh in the top four of the world rankings.

Ross Smith has a milestone to reach anyway, as he lands at his highest ever ranking after the World Matchplay. That is now the eleventh spot, where he started the tournament as number thirteen in the world. If "Smudger" manages to advance even further, an entry into the global top-10 or even into the world's top five beckons when he wins his second major title in Blackpool.

Then Smith will first of all have to deal with Wade, the lowest-ranked player in the world ranking still in the tournament. In any case, "The Machine" has already overtaken Gary Anderson on the PDC Order of Merit, but will be eager to make some more strides. Reaching the semifinals will put him back in the top-20, while Wade will even return to the top-16 if he reaches the final. Should Wade take the title, the left-handed darter will jump back into the top-10 in one fell swoop.

The last remaining quarterfinalist is Andrew Gilding, who is virtually in spot eighteen. That is already two spots higher than the position he started the tournament with. Gilding will need to reach at least the final to move up even further. Then 'Goldfinger' will end up in place thirteen or fourteen (depending on Wade's result). With a sensational title, Gilding will make his debut in the top-10 of the world rankings.

Live PDC Order of Merit

Rank	Name	Prize money
1	Luke Humphries	1480.75
2	Michael Smith	1044.75
3	Michael van Gerwen	894.5
4	Rob Cross	604.25
5	Nathan Aspinall	579.5
6	Gerwyn Price	533.25
7	Dave Chisnall	513.5
8	Jonny Clayton	502.5
9	Damon Heta	473.25
10	Dimitri Van den Bergh	472.75
11	Ross Smith	469.25
12	Peter Wright	468
13	Chris Dobey	424.5
14	Joe Cullen	411.5
15	Stephen Bunting	410.75
16	Danny Noppert	403.5
17	Josh Rock	384.75
18	Andrew Gilding	363.75
19	Dirk van Duijvenbode	358.75
20	Ryan Searle	352.5
21	James Wade	345.75
22	Gary Anderson	335
23	Martin Schindler	329
24	Luke Littler	314.5
25	Gabriel Clemens	295.5
26	Krzysztof Ratajski	286.75
27	Daryl Gurney	275
28	Raymond van Barneveld	272.25
29	Brendan Dolan	267.75
30	Jose de Sousa	215
31	Scott Williams	196.5
32	Gian van Veen	195
33	Ricardo Pietreczko	190.5
34	Luke Woodhouse	183
35	Ryan Joyce	174.5
36	Mike De Decker	154.75
37	Kim Huybrechts	153.5
38	Madars Razma	152.5
39	Callan Rydz	148.5
40	Martin Lukeman	140.75
41	Alan Soutar	132.75
42	Jermaine Wattimena	123.5
43	Ricky Evans	122.25
44	Ritchie Edhouse	120.75
44	Jim Williams	120.75
46	William O'Connor	114
47	Cameron Menzies	106
48	Matt Campbell	105.25
49	Steve Beaton	104.25
50	Simon Whitlock	103.5
51	Keane Barry	100.5
52	Kevin Doets	99.75
53	Richard Veenstra	95
54	Mickey Mansell	88.5
55	Boris Krcmar	87
56	Mensur Suljovic	84.75
57	Florian Hempel	82.75
58	Ryan Meikle	82.5
59	Niels Zonneveld	79.75
60	Jamie Hughes	79.5
61	Vincent van der Voort	78.5
62	Mervyn King	75.75
63	Ian White	73.5
64	Adam Gawlas	71.5
65	Rowby-John Rodriguez	63.75
66	Lee Evans	58.75
67	Dylan Slevin	55.5
68	Adrian Lewis	48.75
69	Stephen Burton	44.5
70	Karel Sedlacek	43.25
71	Jeffrey De Zwaan	43
72	Daniel Klose	42.25
72	Maik Kuivenhoven	42.25
74	Keegan Brown	37.75
75	Jeffrey Sparidaans	31.5
76	Arron Monk	30.75
77	Graham Hall	28.75
78	Robert Owen	28.5
79	Nick Kenny	27.75
80	Graham Usher	26.75
81	Wesley Plaisier	25
81	Dom Taylor	25
83	Jurjen van der Velde	24.25
84	Pascal Rupprecht	24
85	Jeffrey de Graaf	21.5
86	Wessel Nijman	19
86	Josh Payne	19
88	Adam Smith-Neale	18.75
89	Andy Baetens	18.5
90	Geert Nentjes	18
91	Ronny Huybrechts	17.75
92	Owen Roelofs	17.5
93	James Hurrell	16.75
94	Danny van Trijp	15
95	Thibault Tricole	14.75
96	Berry van Peer	14.5
97	Robbie Knops	14.25
98	Mario Vandenbogaerde	14
99	Christian Perez	13.5
100	Patrick Geeraets	12.5
101	Steve Lennon	12
101	Adam Warner	12
103	Lukas Wenig	11.75
103	Chris Landman	11.75
105	Danny Jansen	11.5
106	Radek Szaganski	11.25
107	Owen Bates	11
107	Danny Lauby	11
109	Callum Goffin	10.75
110	Franz Roetzsch	10.5
110	Leighton Bennett	10.5
112	Nathan Rafferty	9.75
113	Robert Grundy	9.5
113	Haupai Puha	9.5
115	Matthew Dennant	9
116	George Killington	8
116	Benjamin Reus	8
116	Brett Claydon	8
119	Cam Crabtree	7.5
119	Connor Scutt	7.5
121	Kai Gotthardt	7.25
122	Adam Hunt	7
122	Stefan Bellmont	7
122	Rhys Griffin	7
122	Jelle Klaasen	7
126	Jitse Van der Wal	6.75
127	Andy Boulton	6.5
128	Jacques Labre	6.25
129	Richie Burnett	5.5
129	Paul Krohne	5.5
129	Darren Beveridge	5.5
129	Joshua Richardson	5.5
133	Romeo Grbavac	4.75
134	Tim Wolters	4.5
134	Oskar Lukasiak	4.5
136	William Borland	4
136	Michele Turetta	4
136	John Henderson	4
139	Kevin Troppmann	3.75
139	Michael Unterbuchner	3.75
141	Martijn Dragt	3
141	Jules van Dongen	3
143	Jan Dueckers	2.5
143	Lee Cocks	2.5
143	Marvin van Velzen	2.5
143	Moreno Blom	2.5
143	Moritz Hilger	2.5
143	Sebastian Bialecki	2.5
143	Darius Labanauskas	2.5
143	Johan Engstrom	2.5
143	Andreas Harrysson	2.5
143	Leonard Gates	2.5
143	Scott Mitchell	2.5
154	Jamie Atkins	2
154	Darryl Pilgrim	2
154	Thomas Lovely	2
157	Jarred Cole	1.5
157	Joe Croft	1.5
157	Michael Taylor	1.5
160	Benjamin Pratnemer	1.25
160	Marko Kantele	1.25
160	Nico Blum	1.25
160	Christian Kist	1.25
160	Damian Mol	1.25
160	Jiri Brejcha	1.25
160	Teemu Harju	1.25
160	Christopher Toonders	1.25
160	Daniel Larsson	1.25
160	Christian Goedl	1.25
160	Dominik Haberl	1.25
160	Hannes Schnier	1.25
160	Zoran Lerchbacher	1.25
160	Arno Brand	1.25
160	Niko Springer	1.25
160	Rene Eidams	1.25
160	Alexander Masek	1.25
160	Cor Dekker	1.25
160	Patrick Klingelhoefer	1.25
160	Matthias Ehlers	1.25
160	Oliver Mueller	1.25
160	Viktor Tingstrom	1.25
160	Vitezslav Sedlak	1.25
160	Born of Put	1.25
160	Geert De Vos	1.25
160	Jeroen Caron	1.25
160	Steven Strobbe	1.25
187	Justin Hood	1
187	Shane McGuirk	1
187	Aden Kirk	1
187	Bradley Brooks	1
187	Harry Lane	1
187	Jack Male	1
187	Jenson Walker	1
187	John Haines	1
187	Ron Meulenkamp	1
187	Tom Lonsdale	1