NEW Scottish darts ace Robert Thornton is now aiming to hit the jackpot in Las Vegas – after a vote of confidence from 13-times world champion Phil Taylor.

The Thorn, 40, crashed out of the Blue Square UK Open in Bolton at the fifth round stage to world No17 Alan Tabern but still believes his gamble to join the Professional Darts Corporation will pay off.

Now the Ayrshire thrower goes to the next darts major tournament at the Las Vegas Classic in a fortnight needing a big result and was delighted to be given a boost by Taylor, who said he was one of the stars of the tournament.

Thornton admitted: “Joining the PDC was always going to be extremely tough. I was the BDO No1 but I wanted a new challenge, I needed to test myself against the best in the world.

“There’s such strength in depth at the PDC, there’s100 players who can beat anyone in the world on their day and I’m just aiming to get into the top 32.

“I said from the off that if I could make a quarter-final this year in a major tournament I would be happy. I fell short at the UK Open but it was a decent start.

“It was good of Phil to say that but I'm more interested in my success doing the talking. I’m looking forward to improving in Vegas.”

Taylor, who was knocked out 10-9 in the quarter-finals after another classic with Raymond van Barneveld, still had time to pay tribute to Thornton: “Robert really impressed me. He was under so much pressure to beat Anastasia on his debut but he coped well.

“His scoring was also very high against van Gerwen and there’s little doubt he will be a big hit for Scotland.”