Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen is also through to the fourth round after a 4-2 win over 30th seed Brendan Dolan.
Northern Irishman Dolan won the first set in the throw, before Dutchman Van Gerwen won the second.
That sparked an eight-step run on the rotation to give the third seed a 3-1 lead.
He was in scintillating form in the fourth set, averaging 118.66, but that fell to just 84 in the fifth set won by Dolan.
Van Gerwen threw a few wayward darts in the next set and was again guilty of missing doubles, before sealing the victory.
The match summed up Van Gerwen’s year – sublime moments but also mistakes that would likely be punished by the best as the tournament progressed.
He will face the Swede Jeffrey de Graaf or the Filipino Paolo Nebrida, both unranked, in the fourth round.
“It was tough, it was really tough and a really difficult match,” Van Gerwen told Sky Sports.
“Everyone can see that he never gives up and you have to try to punish him at the right time, and I wasn’t able to do that.
“There is still a lot of work to do and I know I am capable of doing it. I look forward to the next round and continue.
The opening match of the evening saw 15th seed Chris Dobey defeat 18th seed Josh Rock 4-2.
Northern Ireland’s Rock led 1-0 and 2-1 before Dobey improved and got into his rhythm as the match progressed.
He won the fourth set 3-0, before Rock missed the set darts on double tops in the fifth.
Dobey then won the sixth set with a double-double, to set up a fourth-round draw against either Dutchman Kevin Doets or Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski.
Many had predicted a close match with just £250 splitting the two in the PDC Order of Merit and it played out like that, but Dobey’s consistent scoring – he had an average of 97.29 – and percentage of box score of 45.2 allowed him to qualify.
The afternoon session saw Joyce shock 20th seed Ryan Searle, while Ricardo Pietreczko and 12th seed Nathan Aspinall also progressed.
