Michael van Gerwen could drop out of the PDC top 16 for the first time in 14 years if he exits the World Darts Championship early.The six-time winner of the World Grand Prix exited at the first round this time around at Ryan Joyce’s hands.The Dutchman has had a year to forget, falling down the Merit of Order to ninthGettyThat has left him in a rather unusual situation with the World Darts Championship around the corner.He still has a healthy lead over Chris Dobey in 17th in terms of prize money.The three-time world champion is sat on £608,500 for the last two years and Dobey has accumulated £537,250.There are a couple of major competitions still coming up that could see Van Gerwen extend his lead or it could narrow even more.But the highlight of the darts season at the Alexandra Palace is the key point for Van Gerwen‘s hopes of staying in the top 16.That is because the PDC Order of Merit is based on prize money over a two-year rolling period, so the £250,000 he collected from finishing second to Luke Littler in the World Darts Championship at the start of 2025 is included.An early exit with the limited prize money on offer and better progress for Dobey would put Van Gerwen in trouble.Van Gerwen’s form has totally deserted him across several major competitionsGettyAnd Dobey could profit is Van Gerwen’s inconsistent form continuesGettyVan Gerwen’s concernsAfter making the World Series Darts final, only to lose Daryl Gurney, Van Gerwen made it clear that the World Grand Prix Darts was his priority for the ranking.He said: “The World Grand Prix is a lot more important for me than this tournament, because I also have to look towards my ranking.“For me now, it’s the time to produce some good darts on the ranking tournaments. People only talk about, ‘Oh, you have to defend this, you have to defend that’, but in this tournament I don’t have anything to defend. So for me, that’s the time I have to produce some good darts.“If you do well in one tournament, the rankings look totally different. I don’t look into that to be honest. If that’s the case, it’s the case. You have to work harder, keep battling, to come back even stronger. That’s the way it is. As long as I keep doing everything I can now towards the year, and after, I think I can hold myself to not go outside of the top 16.“We all know I had a tough past 18 months, and then it’s no rocket science that the ranking [is worse].”But after the World Grand Prix, Van Gerwen has a few players breathing down his neck.Nathan Aspinall was the biggest winner after making it to the semi-finals and gaining four places.