The 2016 PDC Pro Tour was a series of non-televised darts tournaments organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Players Championships, UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour events are the events that make up the Pro Tour. In 2016 there were 36 PDC Pro Tour events held – 20 Players Championships, six UK Open Qualifiers and ten European Tour events.
Prize money
Prize money for each Players Championship increased from £60,000 to £75,000 per event. The UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour events stayed the same as in 2015.[1]
This is how the prize money is divided:
Stage
ET
PC
UKQ
CT/DT
Winner
£25,000
£10,000
£10,000
£2,000
Runner-up
£10,000
£6,000
£5,000
£1,000
Semi-finalists
£5,000
£3,000
£2,500
£500
Quarter-finalists
£3,500
£2,250
£2,000
£300
Last 16
£2,000
£1,500
£1,500
£200
Last 32
£1,500
£1,000
£750
£100
Last 48
£1,000
N/A
N/A
N/A
Last 64
N/A
£500
£250
£50
Total
£115,000
£75,000
£60,000
£10,000
PDC Tour Cards
128 players are granted Tour Cards, which enables them to participate in all Players Championships, UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour events.
(2) Two highest qualifiers from 2015 Challenge Tour (Jan Dekker and Richie Corner).
Jan Dekker is also in the top 64 of the PDC Order of Merit, and therefore, a Pro Tour Card was awarded to Shaun Griffiths, who finished third on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit.
(2) Two highest qualifiers from 2015 Development Tour (Mike De Decker and Bradley Kirk).
Bradley Kirk turned down his Tour Card, which was subsequently awarded to Berry van Peer.
Dimitri Van den Bergh is also in the top 64 of the PDC Order of Merit, and therefore, one extra Tour Card was awarded to a Q-School qualifier.
(1) The winner of the 2015 Scandinavian Order of Merit (Kim Viljanen).
(16) The 16 qualifiers from 2016 Q-School.
Afterwards, the playing field was complemented by the highest qualified players from the Q School Order of Merit until the maximum number of 128 Pro Tour Card players had been reached. In 2016, that meant a total of 14 players qualified this way.
Q-School
The PDC Pro Tour Qualifying School took place at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan from January 13–16. 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. The following players picked up Tour Cards as a result:[8]
Compared to 2015, there's one European Tour event added on the calendar. In addition, the top 32 of the European Tour will qualify for the European Championship.
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 received two-year Tour Cards to move onto the PDC Pro Tour in 2017 and 2018. In addition, the players who finished from third to eighth will receive free entry to the 2017 PDC Q-School.
The PDC Unicorn Development Tour is open to players aged 16–23. The Development Tour is expanded from 16 to 20 tournaments, where event number 20 is the PDC Youth World Championship from the Last 64 onwards. The players who finish first and second on the Order of Merit will receive two-year Tour Cards to move onto the PDC Pro Tour in 2017 and 2018. In addition, the players who finish from third to eighth will receive free entry to the 2017 PDC Q-School.
The Scandinavian Pro Tour had eight events in 2016, with a total of €40,000 on offer. The top player and the runner-up on the SDC Order of Merit 2016 will play in the 2017 World Championship preliminary round.
The Australian Grand Prix rankings are calculated from events across Australia. The top player in the rankings automatically qualified for the 2017 World Championship.
Corey Cadby secured top spot in the Australian Grand Prix rankings and will qualify for the 2017 World Championship. David Platt also won a place in the 2017 World Championship by winning the Oceanic Masters and therefore he will join Cadby and DPNZ qualifier Warren Parry to compete in the World Championship.
The winner directly qualified for the first round, whereelse the runner-up and the two losers of the semi-finals entered the 2017 PDC World Darts Championship in the preliminary round.