Northern Ireland has five PDC Tour Card holders this year, the same number as last year. With that, Northern Ireland only has to beat England (43), the Netherlands (21), Germany (12), Scotland (8), Belgium and Wales (both 6).
The highest-placed Northern Irishman with a PDC Tour Card in hand is Josh Rock in 11th place. Rock, who managed to win the 2022 PDC Youth World Cup, has long been labeled as a top talent and looks set to break through completely this year.
‘Rocky’ announced early this year that his biggest goal this year was to perform better at the majors. After all, that has been his Achilles heel in recent years with several first-round defeats. In early March, Rock appeared to be on his way to his first majors title at the PDC, but he ended up being stranded in the semifinals after an 11-2 defeat to James Wade.
A month later, Rock won the tenth Players Championship of the year by defeating Cameron Menzies 8-4 in the final. At the twelfth Players Championship, Rock lost 8-7 to Gerwyn Price in the final.
Triumph at World Cup of Darts
But it was especially at the World Cup of Darts that Rock made a particular impression. Alongside Daryl Gurney, Northern Ireland somewhat surprisingly reached the final there, which it eventually won 10-9 over Wales.
Josh Rock in action
Buoyed by that success, Rock also reached the semifinals at the past World Matchplay. In the end, he stranded there after a 17-14 against the later winner Luke Littler. Thanks to these strong performances, Rock has moved up to 11th place in the world rankings. A major title seems only a matter of time, perhaps as early as this fall?
The second Northern Irishman in the world rankings can be found in 27th place. We are indeed talking about the aforementioned Gurney, who managed to win the World Cup of Darts with Northern Ireland. A welcome boost for Gurney who has been struggling in recent years.
‘Superchin,’ who has two majors on his record with the World Grand Prix in 2017 and the Players Championship Finals in 2018, may still be in the top 32 of the world rankings, but he no longer reaches the level of years ago.
Daryl Gurney
Crossroads in Gurney’s career
The final victory at the World Cup of Darts may therefore be a crossroads in Gurney’s career, will he return to the top 20 and possibly higher or will he be content with a place in the middle of the pack. One thing is certain, his PDC Tour Card is absolutely not in danger, for that he continues to win enough matches.
In 36th place we find the third Northern Irish PDC Tour Card holder. That is Brendan Dolan, who was not there at this year’s World Cup of Darts for the first time since the tournament’s inception in 2010. And just then Northern Ireland wins the tournament, however, it will have stung Dolan anyway.
Dolan is now 52 and the question is how long he will remain in the top 64. His best performances at majors are a while behind us, although he did reach the quarter-finals at the World Darts Championship in 2024. However, Dolan remains a player not to be underestimated, who on his day can still beat all the top players. On the virtual world rankings – On the provisional world rankings at the end of this season – which take into account prize money lost and starting money counted for the first round of a major for which the player is qualified – Dolan is 39th and is already assured of retaining his PDC Tour Card for next year. Above all, it points to how solid and consistent Dolan continues to perform, despite the lack of outliers lately. As long as he can keep that up, Dolan should manage to keep it up on the PDC Pro Tour for several more years.
A few places behind Dolan we find Mickey Mansell in 43rd place. The 51-year-old Northern Irishman, a contemporary of Dolan’s, has long been a fixture in the PDC. Mansell captured his PDC Tour Card in 2011 and retained it each time. Without making great achievements, but by showing a lot of regularity, Mansell has been between place 40 and 60 in the world rankings for years.
Last year, Mansell recorded the best result of his career at a major by reaching the semifinals at the Grand Slam of Darts, in which he eventually lost 16-12 to Martin Lukeman. Virtually Mansell is even ranked 41st, so he can already sleep on both ears in terms of retaining his PDC Tour Card.
Nathan Rafferty in action
Rafferty’s PDC Tour Card in jeopardy
For the last Northern Irish PDC Tour Card holder we have to descend to 79th place, as that is where we find Nathan Rafferty. ‘The Natural’ captured his PDC Tour Card in 2022, but has a lot of work ahead of him to keep it for next year.
Rafferty is only 89th in the world rankings and has not yet qualified for any major, not even the World Darts Championship. For now he can only collect prize money through the Players Championships and possibly, if he qualifies through the qualifying tournament, on the European Tour. There he has to reach at least the final to have a real chance of keeping his PDC Tour Card.
Conclusion: with Rock, Northern Ireland has gold in its hands for years to come. The 24-year-old darter has everything to make it at the top. Gurney, Dolan and Mansell can sleep on both their ears as far as retaining their PDC Tour Card is concerned, but seem destined for the middle ground with perhaps an outlier here and there. And chances are that Northern Ireland will have to do with one less PDC Tour Card holder next season, unless Rafferty performs another miracle.