Whitlock didn't lose a set in reaching the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Championship and kept his composure when Ian White levelled the match at 4–4, after having been 3–0 and 4–1 down, to win 5–4. However, he was outplayed in every department by Peter Wright in the semi-finals as he lost 6–2. Despite this, Whitlock moved up to third in the world rankings after the tournament. He lost 9–6 to Ronny Huybrechts in the third round of the UK Open and refused to shake his opponent's hand at the end of the game. Whitlock had a very poor Premier League campaign as he only won one of his nine matches to be eliminated from the competition. His season was perhaps best summarised in the ninth week when he hit a 170 finish to lead world number one Michael van Gerwen 6–2, but went on to draw 6–6. Whitlock and Nicholson won through to the semi-finals of the World Cup of Darts where they faced England's Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis in a repeat of 2012's final. Whitlock was beaten 4–1 by Taylor, before Nicholson overcame Lewis 4–2 to mean a doubles match was required to settle the tie which Australia lost 4–0. Whitlock won his first tournament in over a year at the 12th Players Championship by beating James Wade 6–3 in the final. He won through to the final of the European Darts Open, but lost 6–2 against Wright.