World number one Phil Taylor powered to an easy 3-0 win over qualifier Steve Grubb to make it safely through the first round of the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace.
It was an utterly one-sided affair as Grubb, a pub landlord from Somerset, failed to take a single leg against the 13-time champion.
'It's a relief to get the win,' admitted Taylor. 'It was a different game to what I'm used to because Steve was struggling and I felt for him.
'He was hitting too high in the 20 bed and it affected my game as well. Normally against a player, what they do motivates you but I had to try and motivate myself - you react to what they do.'
Ninth seed Alan Tabern was another to enjoy a 3-0 victory this evening against Steve Beaton.
It was a marginally more competitive affair but the St Helens player still dropped just three legs over the course of their match.
American David Fatum will play eighth seed Wayne Mardle in the first round after beating Ireland's Shane O'Connor 6-4 in their qualifier this evening.
England's Alex Roy, seeded 28th, was dumped out of the tournament following a 3-1 defeat at the hands of qualifier Kevin McDine.
Dutch teenager Michael van Gerwen has the dubious honour of facing Taylor in the second round after coming from a set down to record a 3-1 victory over American Darin Young.
Earlier in the day, comeback kid Dennis Smith dumped Terry Jenkins out of the championship to condemn the world number five to further Alexandra Palace misery.
Jenkins was defeated 8-0 on his first visit to the venue, against Colin Lloyd in last year's Premier League, and went down to Kirk Shepherd in the first round of the 2007 World Championship.
His horror show continued with a 3-1 loss to qualifier Smith, who has dropped out of the world's top 32 in the past 18 months but kick-started his battle up the rankings with a strong display.
Smith led 2-0 before Jenkins, aided by finishes of 118 and 107, took the third set - but his comeback was short-lived as the Swindon qualifier won the next without reply to book his second round place.
Smith said 'I was over the moon just to win through the qualifiers but I've been practising hard on my finishing and it paid off.'
With defending champion John Part among four seeds who had gone out on the opening night, Jenkins' defeat piled added pressure on Kevin Painter, the world number 16 who survived a sudden-death shoot-out with Matt Clark.
Painter - runner-up in 2004 and a semi-finalist last year - held his nerve to edge out the Manchester-based qualifier, and said: 'The pressure was incredible. It came down a lot to bottle at the end and I'm delighted to be through.'
Two-time world champion Dennis Priestley had few problems in seeing off New Zealander Warren French in straight sets, while Barrie Bates was a 3-0 winner against Ireland's Felix McBrearty.
China's Shi Yongsheng won through the preliminary round for a second successive year in the afternoon session's other game, defeating Austrian Hannes Schnier 6-4 to set up a first round game with Mervyn King.
