 He adopted the nickname John Boy and used the song "Cotton Eye Joe" by Rednex as his walk-on theme.Walton picked up some small tournament victories in the early stages of his career, including the Websters 150 Championship in 1993 and the Highlands Open Championship in 1996 but didn't manage to qualify for the World Championship until 1999 when he lost 0–3 to Roland Scholten on his first round debut.He failed to qualify for the World Championship in 2000, but in the autumn of that year he won the prestigious Winmau World Masters.