Who are the biggest name players without PDC Tour Card heading into 2024?

The fourteenth edition of PDC Q-School took place from Monday, January 8 to Sunday, January 14, 2024. At venues in Kalkar (Germany) and Milton Keynes (England) almost nine hundred participants competed for a PDC Tour Card.

Now that the 2024 Q-School is over, all PDC Tour Card holders for the coming year are known. There are also some notable names that did not make it through Q-School however.

Players who hold a Tour Card gain entry to the PDC's Pro Tour tournaments. In addition, you may enter the qualifying tournaments for the European Tour events, the qualifiers for the Grand Slam of Darts and World Series of Darts Finals, plus the last chance saloon World Darts Championship qualifier if you haven't already secured a spot at the Ally Pally.

Fallon Sherrock managed to qualify for the final stage at the UK Q-School in Milton Keynes after a fine run of wins in the first stage. The 'Queen of the Palace' managed to win her five matches on the second day of the first stage, making her one of the eight daily winners. However, the former winner of the Women's World Matchplay was unable to extend this success into the final stage, where she managed to take only 1 point in the Order of Merit standings.

Connor Scutt reached his first PDC ranking final in 2023, earning his debut at the World Darts Championship. The Englishman managed to win his first match against Krzysztof Kciuk but then lost to Gerwyn Price in the second round. This defeat left Scutt just short of extending his status as a professional dart player. Although a favourite to regain his Tour Card and as a player who lost his PDC Tour Card last season, being directly qualified for the final stage at the UK Q-School, Scutt ultimately fell short in his quest to secure an immediate return.

One of the household names we will not see on the Pro Tour next year is Devon Petersen. The South African had managed to keep his Tour Card continuously since 2015 and has eight World Championship appearances to his name. Petersen had a top year in 2020, in which, among other things, he managed to win a Euro-Tour, reached the semifinals of the European Championship and entered the top 32 of the world rankings for the first time. Since then, however, things have gone downhill for the South African, who managed to pick up just one point in the final stage at the UK Q-School.

John Henderson was close to grabbing a Tour Card for this season last year. The Scot seemed to finish second on the Challenge Tour, but was overtaken by Owen Bates in the final tournament. Christian Kist also performed well on the Challenge Tour last year and even managed to qualify for the World Darts Championship. Neither was able to replicate this kind of form at Q-School however.

Another Dutch name who did not manage to get a Tour Card this year is Wesley Plaisier. The winner of the World Masters managed to qualify for the final stage of European Q-School, but then fell just short of a Tour Card with 5 points. Names like Daryl Pilgrim and Jim McEwan, who recently showed good things at the Modus Super Series also failed to make it through Q-School this year.

Jeff Smith, who captured his Tour Card in 2020, had already announced he would not participate in Q-school in 2024. Darius Labanauskas, who has been part of the professional darts circuit since 2018, did go to European Q-School again, but fell short by 4 points in the final stage to take back his Tour card.

Scott Waites, Richie Burnett and James Wilson have lost their Tour Card several times, but managed to earn it back each time. This year, however, these players did not make it through the final stage of the UK Q-School. Danny Jansen, who managed to win a Players Championship in his first year on the Pro Tour in 2022, will also not return to the professional circuit. The same goes for Ted Evetts, who managed to win the PDC World Youth Championship in 2021 and has 14 Development Tour titles to his name.

Other notable players who failed to earn their Tour Card are John O'Shea, Ross Montgomery, Darren Webster, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Krzysztof Kciuk, Brian Raman, Jimmy Hendriks, Bradley Brooks, Jose Justicia, Kevin Burness, Nick Fullwell, Joe Murnan, Tony Martinez, Shaun Wilkinson, Damian Mol, Luc Peters, Jamie Clark, Lewy Williams and Vladimir Andersen.