In January 2021, he reached the quarter-final of the German Masters, and in February 2021, he won his first ranking title at the Welsh Open, defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–8 in the final.

As an occasional wild card entrant to ranking events, he enjoyed some notable victories, such as defeating John Higgins 4–3 in the 2012 Scottish Open.

[5] In the 2020 World Snooker Championship qualifiers, he defeated Rory McLeod, Hossein Vafaei and Ryan Day to reach the Crucible for the first time.

At the Welsh Open in February 2021, he defeated Selby 5–4 in the quarter-final,[7] Stephen Maguire 6–1 in the semi-final[8] and Ronnie O'Sullivan 9–8 in the final to capture his maiden ranking title,[9] winning a prize of £70,000.

[11] He also became the fourth Northern Irish player to claim a ranking title, after Alex Higgins, Dennis Taylor and Mark Allen.