Peter Wright saw off Madars Razma to open his World Matchplay account with a 10-4 win over the Latvian with seven 180's and a top checkout of 157.
As well as the title this week, a certain 180 record is also on Wright's mind as he made early strides towards that which is held by Adrian Lewis.
"It's a W, it's a win. My target for this tournament was to obviously win it and try and beat Adrian Lewis' record of 180's. That's the start, I hit a few there," he said post match.
"It's just great to be back here. It's a special place. I'm just glad to get over the first round."
"Madars (Razma) he wasn't pushing me. I wasn't even looking at what he was scoring, I wasn't listening to Russ (Bray), I was just playing my game and that's it."
On where his game is at the moment, he believes he isn't that far away and has the mentality to go on and win the title.
"It's not far away. You ain't got to play 110, 120 average in the first round and by the time you get to the final, you've blown all your good darts. I'm just plodding along and it's coming.
"Mentally wise, I feel more confident than I did last year. The way these darts go and the amount of 180's I can score with them. What they can do makes the other ones look silly so that's why I'm shouting my mouth off.
So much so that he was bullish with who he believes his nearest rivals are for Blackpool glory.
"My main challenger is me, that's the only person that can upset me winning this tournament. I don't care who comes through the other side, they will just be an opponent and a losing opponent."