 Despite that success, he was 50/1 with the bookmakers to win the World title in the New Year, and his Masters form possibly led to him being tipped by darts pundit Bobby George at the start of the BBC televised coverage as a possible winner.Walton opened his 2001 campaign with a 3–1 first round win over Ritchie Davies and averaged an excellent 100.62 during the match.He then beat Mervyn King 3–0 with another high average of 99.00.