THREE-TIME world champion Mark Williams admitted he would rather be at home playing golf, despite cruising into the second round of the Betway UK Championship in York.

The 44-year-old Cwm potter overcame world number 126 Fraser Patrick 6-2 in his opener at the first Triple Crown event of the season, but conceded he was somewhat disillusioned with the game.

And although he dispatched his Scottish opponent with two tons and a half-century in tow, Williams – who has won the tournament on two occasions – believes he must significantly improve if he is to further extend his stay in Yorkshire.

“I didn’t play very well at all,” he said.

“I’m enjoying myself when I’m out on the golf course, but I hate snooker at the minute.

“I’ve got a lack of match practice because I haven’t entered the last few tournaments, and that’s what you need really to find your best form.

“I really struggled but somehow I think Fraser struggled even more, and he made it easy for me in a couple of the frames.

“I’ve got no expectations here and if I play like I did in the first round I’ll get beat and go home at the weekend. It doesn’t matter who I play if I perform like that.”

Elsewhere, Cwmbran’s Jak Jones hopes he can beat his previous UK Championship best after booking his spot in the last 64.

The 26-year-old made it to the third round in 2018, but having overcome former top-20 star Andrew Higginson in his opener 6-4 this time out, Jones is eager to go further than ever before.

“I enjoy playing at the biggest tournaments,” he said.

“The UK Championship is obviously up there with the World Championship so it’s one I really want to do well in and hopefully I can keep going.

“There’s obviously a lot more pressure on the biggest stages but you’ve just got to take each game as it comes and not worry about who you’re playing.

“It’s just good to be here and to have got through.

“The crowd was good even at such an early stage so it was good fun out there and I hope I can continue to perform.”

Having come from behind twice in the match, Jones was pegged back to 4-4 by Higginson before he finished the game off with a half-century and his second ton of the tie.

But despite showing flashes of promise, he believes he still has plenty left to work on going into his next clash and beyond.

He said: “I’m really happy to win because it wasn’t easy at all.

“I didn’t feel great at the beginning and Andrew potted some good balls and made frame-winning breaks so it put me under pressure.

“But I always practice really hard and it’s just about getting into a flow.

“I overthink quite a lot of the time and I cause mistakes that aren’t even there.

“Hopefully I can start to get more comfortable and I’m confident I’ll be OK.”

Meanwhile, Ebbw Vale’s Jackson Page and Newbridge’s Lee Walker are out after losing to Noppon Saengkham and Sunny Akani respectively.

Youngster Page led his Thai opponent 3-1 and 5-3 before Saengkham prevailed after winning an epic decider 70-68.

Walker was firmly in the hunt for a place in round two when he drew level at 3-3 with Akani, but the Thai took three of the last four frames.

As for the other Welsh players, there were wins for Matthew Stevens and Ryan Day, who play each other in round two, and Daniel Wells.

However, Duane Jones and Dominic Dale both fell at the first hurdle.

l Watch the UK Championship live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Jimmy White and Ronnie O’Sullivan.