Winstanley also qualified for the 2011 World Championship as the third seed. In the first round, he survived two match darts against Martin Atkins before winning 3–2. He then defeated Robbie Green 4–1 in the second, Stephen Bunting 5–1 in the quarter-final and Jan Dekker 6–2 in the semi-finals, thus making him one of a small number of players to have reached the final at his first attempt. He was defeated 7–5 by Martin Adams in the final, having led 4–3 and 5–4. Later that year, Winstanley reached the final of the World Masters, where he was beaten 7–2 in sets by Scott Waites.