The 38-year-old Higgins hardly broke a sweat in blowing away the challenge of 19-year-old Walker, who committed far too many errors.
The world number 10 Scot showed his class and treated the crowd some quality snooker at the Le Meridien Hotel.
"It's the best table that I have played on all year. I was lucky today. It was Joel's first match on the TV and he gave me a lot of chances," Higgins, who had breaks of 76 and 61 in the third and fourth frames, said after the match.
The second day of the 300,000 pound event saw Scotland's Anthony McGill snatching a 4-1 win over England's Barry Hawkins who lost to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final of the World Championship earlier this year.
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McGill, who is ranked 47th, gave a fine exhibition of his talent as he recorded two century breaks of 123 and 103 in the second and fifth frames against world number seven Hawkins.
The 28-year-old Wilson played a consistent game as he also crafted two half-century breaks of 66 in the first and 72 in the fourth.
Scotland's world number five Steven Maguire defeated Paul Davison from England 4-1 in his first round while Chinese cueist Ding Junhui won a hard-fought contest against Barry Pinches of England 4-3.