O'Sullivan defended his Shanghai Masters title by beating Barry Hawkins 11–9 in the final. This was O'Sullivan's first tournament of the season. The win made O'Sullivan the first snooker player to surpass £10 million in career prize money. He then competed in the English Open, during which he made his fifteenth maximum break to clinch a 4–0 victory over Allan Taylor in the second round. O'Sullivan reached the semi-finals but lost 1–6 to an in-form Mark Davis. At the Champion of Champions, O'Sullivan reached his fifth consecutive final and won 10–9 in a final frame decider against Kyren Wilson, having made 11 centuries during the event. His next tournament was the Northern Ireland Open and faced Judd Trump in the final. He lost the match 7–9. O'Sullivan won the UK Championship with a 10–6 victory over Mark Allen in the final, marking his record seventh UK Championship title and a record of nineteen Triple Crown titles overall. Less than 24 hours after his win, O'Sullivan withdrew from the Scottish Open.