PDC Order of Merit Update: Edhouse and Wattimena rise as Ross Smith flops after early exit

The European Darts Championship has caused many changes on the PDC Order of Merit especially for just outside the top-10. The biggest riser, of course, is Ritchie Edhouse, who sensationally captured the title in Dortmund.

The 41-year-old started his tournament with a 6-1 victory over Gian Veen, after which he also eliminated Michael Smith (10-9), Gary Anderson (10-5) and Luke Woodhouse (11-5) for a spot in the final. A surprise final awaited Jermaine Wattimena and the Dutchman was defeated 11-3 to claim the title.

In winning his first major title, Edhouse earned a total of 120,000 pounds, nearly doubling his total on the PDC Order of Merit. Prior to the tournament, Edhouse was ranked 39th, but now occupies 29th and is in the top-32 for the first time in his career. Losing finalist Wattimena kept £60,000 from his participation. A lot of progression isn't being made by 'The Machine Gun' with that. He rose from 40th place to 37th.

The biggest drop was Ross Smith, the surprise winner of the 2022 European Darts Championship. 'Smudger' was eliminated in the very first round and thus lost a hefty sum of his prize money in the rankings. Smith dropped from ninth place to 22nd position. 

Because of this free fall, many players above Smith made one or more place gains. Danny Noppert (12th), James Wade (14th), Ryan Searle (13th), Luke Littler (18th) and Gary Anderson (20th) all moved up several places.

The top eight in the world rankings remained unchanged. Michael van Gerwen missed a good opportunity to significantly narrow his gap with number two Michael Smith. Two years ago, Van Gerwen lost in the first round of the European Darts Championship and thus had no prize money to defend. However, 'Mighty Mike' was eliminated in the second round just like Smith. World number one Luke Humphries made it to the quarter-finals, and still has a lead of over seven tons over Smith.

It was notable that Humphries was the only player in the top-10 world rankings to reach the quarterfinals in Dortmund. That, then, accounts for the lack of position changes at the top of the PDC Order of Merit.