MaGowan qualified for the 2006 PDC World Darts Championship where he lost to Dennis Priestley in the first round. He then had one of his best tournaments in the 2006 UK Open Darts when he made it to the semi-finals beating Painter, Matt Clark, Adrian Lewis and Robbie Green before losing 11–7 to the eventual winner of the tournament Raymond van Barneveld. He collected £7,500 in prize money. He then managed to qualify for the 2006 Las Vegas Desert Classic and beat Gerry Convery in the first round before losing to Chris Mason in the second round. His 2007 UK Open campaign began in the third round but was beaten 11–1 by van Barneveld. MaGowan's 2008 UK Open campaign was supposed to start in the second round, but his opponent Jimmy Mann couldn't play and he received a bye into the third round where he lost to fellow countryman Brendan Dolan.