2021 was a great year of darts, with Gerwyn Price fishing the year as the number 1 ranked player (topping the order of merit) and he also won his first World Championship. Can Snakebite Wright or Van Gerwen take the top spot in 2022 or even a player like Jonny Clayton or James Wade? As great as the darts were in 2021, 2022 should be even better!
Below is a list of the 2022 PDC Darts Major Tournaments for each month of the year:
January
Tournament: 2022 Ladbrokes Masters
Dates: 28th-30th January 2022
Location: Marshall Arena, Milton Keyes (UK)
Prizemoney: £220,000
Defending Champion: Jonny Clayton
The first big tournament after the World Championship, this year’s Masters sees Jonny Clayton looking to repeat his 2021 Masters triumph. A field of 24 will vie for the 220,000 pounds prizemoney on offer.
Note this will be the last tournament to have Unicorn as the board sponsor. Winmau will take over the board sponsorship with their Blade 6 Triple Core Dart Board now the PDC sponsored dart board.
February
Tournament: 2022 Premier League (Qualifying)
Dates: 3rd February – (Grand Final) 13th June 2022
Location: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff (UK)
Prizemoney: £1,000,000 (with a £10,000 weekly winner bonus)
Defending Champion: Jonny Clayton
The first big tournament using the Winmau Blade 6 Triple Core Dart Board, this year’s Premier League sees Jonny Clayton looking to repeat his 2021 triumph. A field of 8 will vie for the £1,000,000 prizemoney on offer (as well as the weekly bonus).
February is also the start of the 2022 Darts Masters featuring 64 players qualifying for the final at Butlin’s Resort, Minehead (UK) in November for total prize money of £500,000.
March
Tournament: UK Open
Dates: 4th-6th March 2022
Location: Butlin’s Resort, Minehead (UK)
Prizemoney: £450,000
Defending Champion: James Wade
The closest to an FA Cup style tournament in darts. The UK Open allows amateurs and qualifiers to join the Top 32 PDC darts in the final field of the UK Open. All up 160 players will be involved, including 16 Amateur Qualifiers, the 4 top players from each of the UK and European Challenge and Development Tour Orders as well as the 128 Tour Card Holders. Butlin’s Resort is again the host of a prestigious PDC tournament here.
April
Tournament: Premier League/Players Championship Qualification Rounds
Dates: April
Location: UK and Ireland
Prizemoney: £100,000 (Premier League Night), £10,000 Players Championship qualification
Defending Champion: Jonny Clayton (Premier League) Peter “Snakebite” Wright (Players Championship)
No major PDC tournaments for April, just several Premier League Nights and Players Championship qualification rounds with £100,000 to each Premier League Night winner and £10,000 to each winner of a Players Championship qualification round.
May
Tournament: European Darts Open
Dates: 6th-8th May 2022
Location: Ostermann Arena, Leverkusen (Germany)
Prizemoney: £140,000
Defending Champion: Michael Van Gerwen
One of the bigger European darts tournaments, 48 players will be vying for the European crown and the £140,000 prizemoney.
June
Tournament: Premier League Final
Dates: 13th June
Location: Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin (Germany)
Prizemoney: £1,000,000
Defending Champion: Jonny Clayton
One of the biggest tournaments on the calendar with one of the richest purses. After going through the qualifying rounds the last 4 players will fight it out over two best of 19 leg semi finals and the best of 21 leg final for the lion share of the £1,000,000 prize money.
Germany is also host of the great team event, the World Cup of Darts. This event will be held at the Sparkassen Arena in Frankfurt Germany over the 16th-19th of June, with total prize money of £350,000 on offer. Scotland are the 2021 defending champs.
July
Tournament: World Matchplay
Dates: 16th-24th July 2022
Location: Winter Gardens, Blackpool (UK)
Prizemoney: £800,000
Defending Champion: Peter “Snakebite” Wright
A popular event on the PDC world tour, the World Matchplay event sees players needing to win each game by two legs (with maximum of 6 extra legs if no player has won by 2 before a tie-break is implemented). The first round is first to 10 legs, increasing to first to 18 legs in the final. Prizemoney for the 2022 event has been increased by £100,000.
August
Tournament: Players Championship Qualification Rounds/Master Tournaments (AUS&NZ)
Dates: August
Location: UK and Ireland/Australia and New Zealand
Prizemoney: £10,000 Players Championship qualification
Defending Champion: Peter “Snakebite” Wright (Players Championship)
No major PDC tournaments for August, just several Players Championship qualification rounds with £10,000 to each winner of a Players Championship qualification round.
The Darts Masters visits Australia in August with the Queensland Darts Masters on 12th-13th August, the NSW Darts Masters on 19th-20 August and the New Zealand Darts Masters 26th-27th August.
September
Tournament: World Series of Darts
Dates: 16th-18th September
Location: AFAS Live, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Prizemoney: £300,000
Defending Champion: Jonny Clayton
The biggest tournament being held in the Netherlands, Jonny Clayton will be looking to repeat his 2021 success against 23 of the worlds top darts players.
October
Tournament: 2022 BoyleSports World Grand Prix
Dates: 2nd-8th October 2022
Location: Citywest Convention Centre, Dublin (Ireland)
Prizemoney: £550,000
Defending Champion: Jonny Clayton
The World Grand Prix returns to its Dublin home after being played for the last 2 (COVID enforced) years at the Morningside Arena in Leicester (UK).
The iconic double start tournament will feature 32 of the worlds top PDC darts players vie for Can Jonny Clayton continue his great run of 2021?
October also is the month in which we see the European Championship (held at Dortmund Germany form 27th-30th October), featuring the Top 32 players in the European Order of Merit (with Rob Cross the defending champion) playing for prizemoney of £500,000.
November
Tournament: Grand Slam of Darts
Dates: TBC
Location: TBC
Prizemoney: £550,000
Defending Champion: Gerwyn Price
2021 saw the return of this tournament to its traditional Wolverhampton home, with the event held at it’s recent home of Aldersley Leisure Village, Wolverhampton (UK). We expect to see the same venue host the 2022 edition. Traditionally this tournament invites players from the rival BDO organisation however this arrangement has ended due to the BDO liquidation. This years event will feature 32 players chasing the £550,000 prize money on offer.
November is also the month of the Players Championship finals, on 25th November to 27th November at Butlin’s Resort. Prizemoney of £600,000 is on offer, with the dates TBC. Peter “Snakebite” Wright is the defending champ.
December
Tournament: World Championship (2022/23)
Dates: TBC (Finals in January)
Location: Alexandra Palace, London (UK)
Prizemoney: TBC (2021/2022 prize money was £2.5m)
Defending Champion: Gerwyn Price
The big one! Whilst the weather of London is getting very cold, the darts is heating up! Can reigning world champ Gerwyn Price defend his crown? Or will Snakebite, Anderson, Van Gerwen or someone else rise up to take the title? 96 of the worlds top dart players will go at it at Ally Pally for the £2.5m prizemoney on offer.