World Matchplay lost to Drew O'Neill 4–6. Joining the PDC, however, initially failed to provide the impetus that Part's results needed. His performances in the major events continued to be indifferent, including early exits in the 1998 and 1999 PDC World Championships. The new millennium, however, began to bring small success for Part. Despite a quiet 2000 PDC World Championship, where he was eliminated in the round of sixteen, he secured a smaller victory in the Eastbourne Open in 2000. Part then secured his highest placing in a major PDC event by reaching the quarter-finals of the 2000 PDC World Grand Prix. These slightly improved results were only a harbinger, however, for what was to be the most storied and successful phase of Part's career. 2001–2003: PDC World Championship and World Number One The 2001 PDC World Darts Championship was to be a turning point in Part's career, even though he ultimately suffered a crushing defeat in the final. Part comfortably advanced through the tournament until the semi-final, where he defeated Essex veteran Rod Harrington 6–5 in a classic contest to reach his first major PDC final. There he would meet Phil Taylor, who had won the last six world championships and was considered as darts' greatest ever player. This was Part's first meeting with Taylor in an official PDC match, but it was not a happy one. Taylor, who had been in stunning form throughout the tournament, averaged 107.46 and had a 72% checkout rate in the final, now considered one of darts' most dominant ever showings; Part only won three legs in the entire match as Taylor stormed to a 7–0 win. Taylor's performance, described as 'ludicrous' by The Guardian, while simply regarded by darts commentator Sid Waddell as a 'vicious example of near perfection' and an 'annihilation', could have seriously affected Part's confidence. But it would only provide the Canadian with further motivation to challenge the best. Over the next two years, Part won a string of minor titles, rose to number two in the world rankings and developed a rivalry with Taylor that would define this stage of his career. But it was not without some more painful defeats at the hands of 'The Power'. In the quarter-finals of the 2001 World Matchplay, Taylor crushed Part 16–4. In the quarter-finals of the 2002 PDC World Championship, Part was again whitewashed by Taylor in a world championship,