Luke Humphries made a perfect start to his PDC World Darts Championship defence at Alexandra Palace on Sunday, winning nine legs in a row to see off Thibault Tricole.
Humphries, who beat teenager Luke Littler to win the final in January, was not made to work hard for the 3-0 victory.
The 29-year-old will now return to action after Christmas in the third round where he could face Raymond van Barneveld, the 2007 champion.
Humphries is aiming to make history by not only retaining his title but by becoming the first player to top £2 million on the PDC's Order of Merit. Over the last two years Humphries has earned prize money that surpasses £1.8m from ranking event tournaments. Should he lift the PDC World Darts Championship on Jan. 3, with its prize money of £500,000, he will reach a new landmark.
World number one Humphries comes into the tournament on the back of a year in which he has won the World Cup of Darts and the World Matchplay titles for the first time. He also retained the Players Championship Finals in November.
Elsewhere, Jermaine Wattimena will face James Wade on Monday after beating Stefan Bellmont 3-0. Keane Barry from Ireland will take on Gerwyn Price later that day after seeing off Belgium's Kim Huybrechts despite losing the opening set.