The 2014 PDC Pro Tour was a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Professional Dart Players Association Players Championships, UK Open Qualifiers, and European Tour events are the events that make up the Pro Tour. This year there were 34 PDC Pro Tour events held – 20 Players Championships, 6 UK Open Qualifiers, and 8 European Tour events.
Prize money
Prize money for each UK Open Qualifier was increased from £35,000 to £50,000 to match the 2013 Players Championships, which themselves remained unchanged for this year. European Tour events offered £100,000 per event, the same as in 2013.[1]
Stage
ET
PC/UKQ
CT
YT
Winner
£20,000
£10,000
£2,000
£1,000
Runner-up
£8,000
£5,000
£1,000
£500
Semi-finalists
£4,000
£2,500
£500
£250
Quarter-finalists
£3,000
£1,500
£300
£150
Last 16
£2,000
£1,000
£200
£100
Last 32
£1,250
£500
£100
£50
Last 48
£1,000
N/A
N/A
N/A
Last 64
N/A
£250
£50
£25
Total
£100,000
£50,000
£10,000
£5,000
PDC Pro Tour Card
128 players were granted Tour Cards, which enabled them to participate in all Players Championships, UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour events.
(1) The winner of the 2013 Scandinavian Order of Merit (Per Laursen).
(1) The winner of the 2012 Scandinavian Order of Merit (Jarkko Komula).
(2) Two highest qualifiers from 2013 Challenge Tour ( Ben Ward and Adam Hunt).
(2) Two highest qualifiers from 2012 Youth Tour ( Chris Aubrey and Josh Payne).
Lakeside Champion Stephen Bunting accepted his offer of a Tour Card, while a further 16 players won automatic Tour Cards at Qualifying School. To complete the field of 128 Tour Card Holders, places were allocated down the final Qualifying School Order of Merit, with 26 of the top 27 players taking a Tour Card.
Q School
The PDC Pro Tour Qualifying School took place at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan from January 15–18. The following players won two-year tour cards on each of the days played:
A Q School Order of Merit was also created by using the following points system:
Stage
Points
Last 8
9
Last 16
5
Last 32
3
Last 64
2
Last 128
1
To complete the field of 128 Tour Card Holders, places were allocated down the final Qualifying School Order of Merit, with 26 of the top 27 players taking a Tour Card. Stuart Bousfield turned down his chance to take up a Tour Card from the rankings, and as such is removed from the standings for 2014.[10]
European Tour events had 48 players competing in each event this year instead of the 64 previously used. The top 16 on the one year Pro Tour Order of Merit entered each tournament at the last 32 stage. Twenty players from the UK Qualifier, eight from the European Qualifier and four from the Host Nation Qualifier in each event met in the first round with the 16 winners going on to face the 16 seeded players.[37]
The PDC Unicorn Youth Tour was open to players aged 16–21. The players who finished first and second on the Order of Merit will receive two-year Tour Cards to move onto the PDC ProTour in 2015 and 2016. In addition, the players who finished from third to eighth will receive free entry to the 2015 PDC Qualifying School. Dimitri van den Bergh and Josh Payne were the top two players at the end of the year.
The PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour was open to all PDPA Associate Members who failed to win a Tour Card at Qualifying School. The players who finished first and second will receive two-year Tour Cards to move onto the PDC ProTour in 2015 and 2016. In addition, the players who finished from third to eighth will receive free entry to the 2015 PDC Qualifying School. Mark Frost and Alan Tabern were the top two players at the end of the year.
The Scandinavian Pro Tour had eight events this year, with a total of €40,000 on offer. The winner after all nine events (Jani Haavisto) will play in the 2015 World Championship.[64]
The Australian Grand Prix rankings are calculated from events across Australia. The top player in the rankings (Laurence Ryder) automatically qualified for the 2015 World Championship.
The PDC also held a number of other tournaments during 2014. These were mainly smaller events with low prize money, and some have eligibility restrictions. All of these tournaments are non-ranking.
