In 1999/2000 Kevin Berlyn Formed the DPA (Dartplayers Australia) and the Australian Grand Prix – a series of tournaments in Whitlock's native country, and Whitlock won the first two events. The eventual winner of the AGP would have received automatic qualification for the 2008 PDC World Championship; however, Whitlock remained a WDF/BDO player and chose to compete in the BDO World Championship instead. Whitlock showed great form throughout the tournament, beating Edwin Max and Fabian Roosenbrand before defeating former world champion Ted Hankey 5–0 in the quarter-finals. He then beat Brian Woods to reach the final, where he lost to the number one seed Mark Webster 7–5. He was the first Australian to reach the final since Tony David won the tournament in 2002.