Michael van Gerwen nearly breaks £1m prize money barrier

Michael van Gerwen collected almost £1m in prize money from his 18 tournament wins over the last 12 months.

The world No 1 earned £967,000 during a hugely successful spell and that figure would have topped £1m if he had reached the final at the recent World Championship.

Van Gerwen cemented his place at the top of the rankings by claiming maiden titles at last year's UK Open, World Matchplay and Grand Slam of Darts.

The 26-year-old Dutchman also completed a treble of Dubai Darts Masters victories and won the Unibet Masters, European Championship, World Series of Darts Finals and Players Championship Finals titles.

He increased his title tally at non-televised events, winning five of the nine PDC European Tour events, three out of six UK Open Qualifiers and two Players Championships.

The PDC are continuing to increase their prize money and Van Gerwen's total was £400,000 higher than the 12-month earnings won by Gary Anderson over the same period in 2014/15.

The Scot picked up £561,750 while topping the annual standings 12 months ago.

Anderson's win in the 2016 World Championship helped to boost his prize money for the last year to £740,000, with Adrian Lewis picking up £506,750 and Phil Taylor scooping £452,125 in the year.

PDC Chairman Barry Hearn said: "Our pledge to increase prize money across the PDC circuit has been supported by our players with the thrilling darts which they've produced worldwide in recent years.

"Our analysis of last year's prize money totals shows how Michael van Gerwen has raised the bar not only on the oche but also off the oche with the brilliant performances which he produced that almost made him a £1m man!

"Our investment in professional darts has been great news for players across the PDC circuit as we prepare to pay a record £10m in prize money during 2016."

PDC Prize Money Totals for 2015/16