1998–2001 Murphy began his career on the
UK Tour in 1998 (renamed the Challenge Tour in 2000), at the time the second-level professional tour. He was runner-up in the fourth event on the UK tour for the 1997–98 season and, for the 2000–01 season, won the third and fourth events on the Challenge Tour, topping the Order of Merit rankings. In 2000, he received the World Snooker Newcomer of the Year award In 2000, he won the English Open Championship. and
Stuart Bingham 9–7 in the final, recovering from 2–5 down. Although he was not yet on the first-level main tour, this victory brought qualification for the
Masters He made his first
maximum break in the
2001 Benson & Hedges Championship.
2002–2004 Murphy first reached the final stages of a ranking event at the
2002 World Championship, hosted at the
Crucible Theatre, where he lost 4–10 to
Stephen Hendry in the first round. In the
2002–03 season, he reached the final stages of the
Scottish Open, where he was defeated 3–5 by
Drew Henry in the first round, and the
World Championship, where he lost 9–10 against
Ken Doherty on the final black in the first round. For the
2003–04 season, Murphy was
ranked number 64 and qualified for the final stages of three ranking tournaments. In the
LG Cup, he defeated
Steve Davis 5–4 in the second round, before losing 2–5 to
John Higgins in the third. After the victory over Davis, Murphy said "This is one of the greatest days in my snooker career." before losing to
Paul Hunter 2–5 in the second round. In the
Players Championship—the new name of the Scottish Open—he lost 3–5 to eventual champion
Jimmy White in the second round. He failed to reach the
World Championship, losing a qualifying match 7–10 against
Stuart Pettman, in which Pettman was docked a frame for arriving late.
2004–05 season: World Champion Murphy was
ranked number 48 for the
2004–05 season and reached the final stages of four ranking events. In the
Grand Prix—the new name of the LG Cup—he lost 2–5 to
Stephen Maguire in the first round. This was followed by his first ranking semi-final, at the
British Open, where he was whitewashed 0–6 by John Higgins. In the
Malta Cup, he lost 2–5 to
Matthew Stevens in the first round. Murphy won two qualifying matches to reach the main stage of the
2005 World Championship and then defeated former world champions Higgins 13–8, Steve Davis 13–4 and
Peter Ebdon 17–12 to reach the final where he faced Stevens, the world number six. After trailing 6–10 at the end of the first day (the World Championship final is played over two days), he made a comeback to level the score at 16–16. He then made two frame-winning breaks to lift the title. His 11 century breaks were the most in that year's tournament. Murphy's victory was considered a major surprise. His pre-tournament odds were 150–1 and before his win he was considered an underachiever. He became only the third qualifier to win the World Championship (or to reach the final) after
Alex Higgins in
1972 and
Terry Griffiths in
1979. Aged 22, Murphy was the second-youngest player to win the World Championship, following Stephen Hendry who first lifted the title when he was 21. and he was the lowest-ranked player, at number 48, to win the tournament. No player had won the World Championship as his first ranking event win since
Joe Johnson in
1986. After his win, in July 2005, he married his fiancée Clare.
2005–06 season For the
new season, Murphy improved his ranking to
number 21, which would not usually guarantee qualification for ranking events. However, as world champion he qualified automatically for every tournament in the season as the number two seed (and number one seed for the 2006 World Championship). He was invited to play in the
Premier League Snooker, a non-ranking tournament with a 25-a-second shot clock, but he went out in the round-robin stage. He reached the quarter-finals of the inaugural, non-ranking
Northern Ireland Trophy before being defeated 4–5 by
Neil Robertson. In the first three ranking events of the season—the
Grand Prix, the
UK Championship and the
Malta Cup—Murphy reached the last 16, losing final-frame matches to Stuart Bingham, Robertson, and
Graeme Dott, respectively. After his loss to Bingham, he complained about having to play his match on an outside table, given his world champion status. he was defeated in the final by Matthew Stevens. Murphy was awarded Sportsman of the Year at the
BBC East Midlands Sports Awards in December 2005. At the
Masters, Murphy lost 4–6 to John Higgins in the quarter-finals, but reached his second ranking final in the
Welsh Open, losing 4–9 to
Stephen Lee. In the
World Championship, he reached the quarter-finals, but fell victim to the so-called "
Crucible curse", where no first-time champion has successfully defended the title at the Crucible Theatre, when he was defeated 7–13 by Peter Ebdon.
2006–07 season For the
next season, Murphy moved to
number five in the world rankings, entering the elite top 16 for the first time and thereby automatically qualifying for the final stages of ranking tournaments and receiving an automatic invitation to the
Masters. In the
Northern Ireland Trophy (a ranking event in this season), he lost 4–5 to Stephen Lee in the quarter-finals, and in the
UK Championship, he lost 3–9 to
Alan McManus in the second round. A 3–6 defeat by Stephen Hendry in the quarter-finals of the Masters was followed by his second ranking title, when he defeated
Ryan Day 9–4 in the final of the
Malta Cup. After the victory, he said it was a relief to get rid of the one-hit wonder label. In his next match, a victory over
Jamie Cope in the
Welsh Open, he scored centuries in four consecutive frames, becoming only the second player to do so (after John Higgins in the
2005 Grand Prix final) and the only person to achieve this in a best-of-nine-frames match. He went on to lose 3–5 to Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals. In the
World Championship, Murphy defeated Matthew Stevens 13–12 in the quarter-finals—recovering from 5–11 down and knocking Stevens out of the top 16—before losing 16–17 against
Mark Selby in the semi-finals.
2007–08 season For the
2007–08 season, Murphy was
ranked number three, his highest-ever ranking, and reached at least the semi-finals of five ranking events but without winning any. In the inaugural
Shanghai Masters, he was defeated 2–5 by
Ian McCulloch in the first round. He reached the final of the
2007 Pot Black tournament, where he was defeated by Ken Doherty. In the
Grand Prix, he reached the semi-finals, where he lost 5–6 against
Ronnie O'Sullivan, despite an earlier 5–2 lead. Further semi-finals followed at the
Northern Ireland Trophy and the
UK Championship, where he was defeated on both occasions by Stephen Maguire, 5–6 and 5–9, respectively, making it three consecutive semi-final losses. Before the UK Championship, Murphy was provisionally ranked world number one. He successfully defended his
Malta Cup title (that year the tournament was not a ranking event) with a 9–3 victory over Doherty in the final. In the
China Open, he defeated Mark Selby 6–3 in the semi-finals—his sixth semi-final appearance in the past seven ranking events—but lost 9–10 to Maguire in the final. Before the
World Championship, Murphy was again provisional world number one. As one of the favourites for the championship, he reached the second round where he lost 4–13 to
Ali Carter. After his loss, Murphy criticised the state of the tables. He won the non-ranking
Paul Hunter Classic, defeating Mark Selby 4–0 in the final, but lost in the first round of the first four ranking tournaments, including a 4–5 defeat by world number 47
Mike Dunn in the
Bahrain Championship. Murphy and his wife separated in October, after three years of marriage. Despite the four consecutive first-round losses—which had been attributed to the split from his wife—he claimed his third ranking title at the
UK Championship, defeating Marco Fu 10–9 in a low-quality final, in which he fluked a pink in the deciding frame that was effectively match ball. The victory meant that Murphy joined Steve Davis, Alex Higgins, Terry Griffiths,
John Parrott, Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Williams, John Higgins and Peter Ebdon as one of only ten players to have won both the World title and the UK title. In the
World Championship, there were concerns that Murphy's estranged wife would serve him divorce papers during play of his first-round match against
Andrew Higginson. He defeated Higginson 10–8 without incident, although his wife's parents were present in the arena and were asked to leave. He went on to defeat Fu 13–3, Hendry 13–11 and Neil Robertson 17–14, to earn a place in his second world final with two-time world champion Higgins as his opponent. In the final, he trailed 5–11 after the first day and was beaten 9–18 by Higgins. On the first day of the final, a newspaper published a "kiss and tell" story involving Murphy. He successfully defended his
Paul Hunter Classic title, defeating White 4–0 in the final. He won the
Premier League Snooker with a 7–3 win against O'Sullivan in the final, ending the latter's run of five consecutive wins in the tournament. He reached the semi-finals of the first ranking tournament, the
Shanghai Masters, before losing 5–6 against
Liang Wenbo. This would be his only run to the semi-finals or better in a ranking tournament that season. In the
UK Championship, as the defending champion, he lost 5–9 to eventual winner
Ding Junhui in the second round. After the match, Murphy complained about Ding leaving the arena too often after frames, saying "I can't believe anyone needs to go to the toilet after every single frame." He reached the quarter-finals of the
Masters, where he lost 4–6 against Mark Williams. In the
Welsh Open and the
China Open, he lost his first-round matches to Matthew Stevens and
Nigel Bond, respectively. In the
World Championship, he defeated
Gerard Greene and Ding, but lost 12–13 against Ali Carter in the quarter-finals, despite leading 8–4. This was the first season in which he did not reach a final or better of a ranking tournament since the 2003–04 season.
2010–11 season After three seasons ranked world number three, Murphy dropped to
number seven for the
2010–11 season. He won the
Wuxi Classic, a non-ranking tournament held in China, defeating Ding Junhui 9–8 after recovering from 2–8 down. He progressed to the semi-finals of the
Paul Hunter Classic, the first European event of the season's
Players Tour Championship minor-ranking series, but lost 2–4 to eventual winner
Judd Trump. Murphy won the
Brugge Open, the second European event of the series, defeating
Matthew Couch 4–2 in the final. He then reached the final of the
Ruhr Championship, but lost 2–4 against John Higgins. Murphy finished first on the Players Tour Championship Order of Merit, but could not defend his
Premier League Snooker title, as he lost 1–7 to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final. He reached the semi-finals of the
UK Championship, where he lost to eventual runner-up Mark Williams 8–9. Murphy lost in the first round of the
Masters 3–6 against Jamie Cope, in the second round of the
German Masters 2–5 against
Joe Swail, and in the first round of the
Welsh Open 0–4 against Matthew Stevens. He won his fourth ranking title in March 2011, with a 4–0 victory over
Martin Gould in the
finals of the Players Tour Championship. The following week, he also reached the final of the
Championship League, but lost 1–3 against Stevens. He progressed to the semi-final of the
China Open, where he lost 1–6 against Trump. Murphy's last tournament of the season was the
World Championship, where he lost in the second round 10–13 against O'Sullivan.
2011–12 season Murphy began the
2011–12 season ranked
number seven. He could not defend his
Wuxi Classic title, as he lost 3–6 against Ali Carter. Murphy reached the semi-finals of the
Australian Goldfields Open, but lost 2–6 against eventual champion Stuart Bingham. At the
Shanghai Masters Murphy reached the quarter-finals, but lost 4–5 against Mark Selby. Murphy's next tournament was the
Brazil Masters, where he defeated Graeme Dott 5–0 in the final. Murphy then reached the quarter-finals of the
UK Championship, but lost 3–6 against
Ricky Walden. He also participated at the
Players Tour Championship, where his best results came at the
Warsaw Classic and the
Kay Suzanne Memorial Trophy, where he reached the quarter-finals, but lost 3–4 against Neil Robertson and 2–4 against Matthew Stevens respectively. He finished number 37 on the
Order of Merit, and could not qualify to the
Finals to defend his title. Murphy reached his first
Masters final, but lost 6–10 against Robertson. Murphy then reached the semi-finals of the next two ranking tournaments, but lost 0–6 against Stephen Maguire at the
German Masters, 2–6 against Ding Junhui at the
Welsh Open. He then lost in the quarter-finals of the
World Open 0–5 against Mark Selby. Murphy ended the season with two first round losses. He lost 2–5 against wild-card
Lu Ning at the
China Open and 8–10 against
Jamie Jones at the
World Snooker Championship.
2012–13 season Murphy began the
2012–13 season ranked
number six. The first tournament for Murphy was the
Wuxi Classic, where he lost in the first round 1–5 against Ken Doherty. Murphy's next tournament was the
Six-red World Championship, where he finished first in Group E with four wins out of five matches and advanced to the knock-out stage. There he defeated
James Wattana,
Barry Hawkins,
Dominic Dale and Judd Trump to reach the final, but lost 4–8 against Mark Davis. He then reached the quarter-finals of the
Australian Goldfields Open, but lost 4–5 against Peter Ebdon. Murphy went one better in the next two ranking tournaments, as he reached the semi-finals of the
Shanghai Masters and the
International Championship, but lost 3–6 against John Higgins and 5–9 against Neil Robertson respectively. Murphy than reached the final of the
2012 UK Championship courtesy of two tight victories. The first against teenager
Luca Brecel in the quarter-finals, after Brecel twice had the chance to pot the final pink and black to win the match, then against Ali Carter in which Murphy recovered from 4–8 down and 0–32 in points behind in the deciding frame to win 9–8. He was ultimately defeated by good friend Mark Selby 6–10 in the final. He also participated at the
Players Tour Championship, with his best result coming at the
third English event, where he reached the semi-finals, but lost 0–4 against Marco Fu. He finished number 29 on the
Order of Merit, and couldn't qualify to the
Finals. Murphy began the year by reaching the semi-finals at the
Masters, but lost 2–6 against Robertson. He then reached the quarter-final of the
German Masters, but lost 4–5 against Robertson. In the first round of the
2013 World Snooker Championship, Murphy defeated Martin Gould 10–5 to advance to the second round, where he faced Graeme Dott, winning 13–11. In the quarter-final, he faced Trump in a tense match that went to a deciding frame, after Trump won five consecutive frames from 7–12 down to level at 12–12. Trump ultimately prevailed in a nervy last frame to go through to the semi-final.
2013–14 season Murphy's
2013–14 season began with a shock 1–5 defeat by
Alex Davies in the qualifying round of the
2013 Wuxi Classic. The tournament was the first to use a new format that required top-16 players to compete in qualifiers. Between August 2013 and January 2014, Murphy lost 3
stones (42
pounds or 19 kg) in weight, due to a new diet and fitness regime. He stated that one of his health and fitness goals was to improve his stamina and concentration at the table. In group two of the
2014 Championship League, he made his second official maximum break in his round-robin match against Mark Davis. In the first round of the
Masters, Murphy came back from 2–4 behind to defeat Ding Junhui 6–4. He produced another comeback in the quarter-finals, where he trailed Marco Fu 1–4 before winning five frames in a row to clinch a 6–4 victory. He faced defending champion Mark Selby in the semi-finals, but lost 1–6. In February 2014, while playing Jamie Jones in the last 16 of the minor-ranking
Gdynia Open, Murphy made his second 147 break of the season and the third of his professional career. He went on to win the tournament, defeating
Fergal O'Brien 4–1 in the final to capture his first title in 29 months. The following month, he defeated Selby 10–6 in the final of the
World Open, winning the fifth ranking title of his career and his first ranking title in three years. At the
World Championship, Murphy defeated Jamie Cope 10–9 and Marco Fu 13–8 to reach the quarter-finals, where he faced defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. Murphy was defeated 3–13 with a session to spare.
2014–15 season: Masters Champion Murphy won the
Bulgarian Open in October, with a 4–2 victory over Martin Gould in the final. Two weeks later, he reached the final of the
General Cup but lost 6–7 against Ali Carter. In November, he won the
Ruhr Open by defeating
Robert Milkins 4–0 in the final. In the second frame of this match, he achieved the fourth
maximum break of his career after missing out on the maximum on two previous occasions earlier that day—in a match against Joe Swail where Murphy made a break of 129 before missing the blue ball, and in a match against Mark Williams where the maximum attempt ended on a break of 122 as he missed the green ball. In 2014, Murphy became the first player to make three maximums in a calendar year. At the
Masters in January, he defeated Mark Selby, Stephen Maguire and
Mark Allen en route to the final against Neil Robertson. Murphy won the match 10–2, completing his career
Triple Crown. In the
World Championship, seeded eighth, Murphy beat
Robin Hull 10–3,
Joe Perry 13–5,
Anthony McGill 13–8 and Barry Hawkins 17–9, to reach his third final, where he met tenth seed Stuart Bingham. Despite leading 3–0 and 8–5, Murphy fell behind 11–14 in the third session; after fighting back to level the score at 15–15, he lost the next three frames and the final 15–18.
2015–16 season At the
UK Championship, Murphy defeated
Ashley Hugill,
Zhou Yuelong and
Ben Woollaston to reach the last 16, but then lost 4–6 to Marco Fu. In defence of his title at the
Masters, he was knocked out in the first round by Mark Allen, losing 4–6. Murphy's only ranking title this season came at the
World Grand Prix in March. With wins over
Michael White, Martin Gould, Liang Wenbo and Ding Junhui, he met Stuart Bingham in the final—a repeat of the previous year's World Championship final—and claimed the victory this time by winning 10–9. At the
World Snooker Championship, Murphy suffered a shocking first-round exit, losing 8–10 to Anthony McGill.
2016–17 season Murphy reached the semi-finals of the
UK Championship but lost 2–6 to the eventual champion Mark Selby. He faced another first-round exit at the
Masters, this time losing heavily to Barry Hawkins 1–6. In March 2017, Murphy won his seventh ranking title, and his first of the season, by beating Judd Trump 4–2 in the
Gibraltar Open final. At the
World Snooker Championship, his 10–8 victory over
Yan Bingtao earned him a place in the second round, where he was defeated by Ronnie O'Sullivan 13–7.
2017–18 season Murphy reached the final of the
China Championship in August, with victories over
Zhang Anda, Ken Doherty,
Anthony Hamilton, Stephen Maguire, Zhou Yuelong and Ali Carter, but he was defeated 5–10 by Luca Brecel in the final. Later that month, he reached the second ranking tournament final of the season, the
Paul Hunter Classic, this time losing 2–4 to Michael White. In November, he won the invitational
Champion of Champions tournament for the first time, beating
Mark King, White and Brecel on the way to the final, before claiming a 10–8 victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan. The pair faced each other again in the final of the
UK Championship in December, but this time Murphy lost 5–10. At the
Masters, he avoided another first-round exit by beating Carter 6–4, though it was a hard-fought victory as Carter recovered from a 0–4 deficit to pull up to 4–5 behind. However, Murphy was knocked out of the tournament in the next round by Judd Trump, losing 4–6. He reached his third ranking final of the season at the
Players Championship in March. After defeating
Kyren Wilson, Anthony McGill and Mark Williams, he met Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final for the third time this season; trailing 3–6 at the end of the afternoon session, he eventually lost the match 4–10. At the end of the season, Murphy suffered another shocking first-round exit at the
World Snooker Championship, losing 9–10 to Jamie Jones.
2018–19 season In December 2018, Murphy was defeated by world number 124
Chen Feilong in the first round of the
UK Championship. Despite taking an early lead of 3–1, Murphy lost the next five frames and lost the match 3–6. He bounced back later that month and reached the final of the
Scottish Open after winning against the likes of
Michael Holt, Kyren Wilson and Judd Trump to face Mark Allen in the final. After trailing 3–6, Murphy won four frames out of the next five to level the match at 7–7, but Allen eventually claimed the title by winning 9–7. In January 2019, Murphy lost 2–6 to Barry Hawkins in the first round of the
Masters. At the
World Snooker Championship, Murphy whitewashed debutant
Luo Honghao in the first round, winning 10–0, the joint biggest defeat in Crucible history. But he was knocked out of the tournament by Neil Robertson in the next round, losing 6–13.
2019–20 season In August 2019, Murphy won against the likes of
Yuan Sijun, Yan Bingtao, Neil Robertson, Graeme Dott and Mark Allen to face Judd Trump in the final of the
International Championship. After trailing 0–5 at the beginning, Murphy eventually lost the match 3–10. In September, Murphy also reached the final of the
Shanghai Masters, an invitational tournament, after beating
Lyu Haotian, Mark Williams,
Jack Lisowski and Mark Allen. He suffered another defeat in the final against Ronnie O'Sullivan, this time losing 9–11. He defeated Williams in the final of the
China Championship later that month and captured his first ranking title since winning the Gibraltar Open in March 2017. At the
UK Championship, Murphy lost 4–6 to
Eden Sharav in the first round, despite taking an early lead of 3–1. In January 2020, Murphy progressed to the semi-finals of the
Masters for the first time since winning the title in 2015 after defeating Trump and Joe Perry, but he eventually lost 3–6 to Ali Carter. In February 2020, Murphy claimed his ninth ranking title after thrashing Kyren Wilson in the final of the
Welsh Open. He made three
century breaks and three more breaks over 70 to win 9–1. At the
World Snooker Championship, Murphy had another first round exit after losing to
Noppon Saengkham 4–10.
2020–21 season Murphy reached the semi-finals of the
European Masters in September, knocking out the defending champion Neil Robertson at the quarter-final stage, but was then himself defeated 3–6 by Mark Selby. He made a quarter-final appearance at the
Masters in January where he was defeated by the same scoreline by Stuart Bingham. Defending his title at the
Welsh Open in February, Murphy was defeated in the quarter-finals by Stephen Maguire in a ninth-frame decider after taking an earlier 4–3 lead. Murphy met Mark Selby in the final of the
World Championship in a repeat of the European Masters semi-final seven months earlier; he lost 18–15. This was the fourth time that Murphy reached the final.
2021–22 season On 24 November, following his first-round loss to amateur player
Si Jiahui in the
2021 UK Championship, Murphy commented, "he [Si] played like a man who does not have a care in the world, because he does not have a care in the world. It is not fair, it is not right. I am not picking on him as a young man, he deserved his victory. Amateurs should not be allowed in professional tournaments, the end. This is our livelihood. This is how I put food on the table. This is how I earn money. Since turning professional at 15, I have earned the right to call myself a professional snooker player. He hasn't done that. He shouldn't be on the table." He later regretted the timing of these comments and apologised to Si, revealing in 2023 that he was "in a dark place" at the time of his "out of character" outburst. The highlight of his season was reaching the semi-final of the
2022 Turkish Masters, where he lost 6–2 to
Judd Trump.
2022–23 season Ahead of the
2022–23 season, Murphy revealed he had undergone
gastric sleeve surgery after years of weight fluctuation and associated injuries,
fat shaming on social media and a resurgence in over-eating after separating from his wife Elaine (although they later reconciled). He reached the quarter-finals of the
UK Championship (for the first time since 2017) where he was defeated 6–1 by Lisowski. He advanced to the final of the
2023 Welsh Open where he lost 9–7 to
Robert Milkins, before winning the
Players Championship with a 10–4 win in the final over Carter. He made five centuries during the final including a highest break of 145 to seal his first ranking title since the 2020 Welsh Open. Just over a month later, he was victorious at the
Tour Championship, defeating
Kyren Wilson 10–7 in the final after being 0–4 behind. On the eve of the
World Championship, Murphy declared: "no one's playing better snooker than me right now", and was drawn against Si, a match which created anticipation due to the backdrop of previous comments Murphy had made about Si in 2021. Si won on a deciding frame to seal a 10–9 victory. Afterwards Murphy was gracious in defeat, saying Si had been "fabulous from start to finish" and "I threw everything at him, I tried my absolute best and I still lost."
2023–24 season In December, during the
2023 Snooker Shoot Out, Murphy became the first player to score a 147 maximum break in the tournament's history. It came in a contest against
Bulcsú Révész, and fellow player Mark Allen described it as "Honestly one of the best things I've ever seen in snooker. Simply ridiculous." He beat
Zhang Anda 6–2 and Lisowski 6–3 to reach the semi-final of the
2024 Masters. In his first Masters semi-final since 2020, Murphy was defeated 26 by O'Sullivan. At the
2024 World Championship, Murphy beat Lyu Haotian 10–5 in the first round, before losing 913 to Maguire in the last 16.
2024–25 season: second Masters title In August 2024, Murphy reached the final of the
Shanghai Masters where he was defeated 11–5 by Judd Trump. At the
2025 Masters, Murphy hit a 147 break in his semi-final win over
Mark Allen. Murphy went on to win the tournament with a 10–7 victory over Kyren Wilson in the final at
Alexandra Palace. Murphy exited the
2025 World Championship at the second round stage. He was defeated 10–13 by Judd Trump.
2025–26 season: British Open title Murphy claimed his maiden
British Open title in September after overcoming Anthony McGill 10–7 in the final. The following month, he reached another final, at the
Xi'an Grand Prix, where he was defeated 3–10 by Mark Williams. In December, he reached the semi-finals of the
UK Championship where he was eliminated by Mark Selby. The following month, his defence of his
Masters crown came to an end when he was eliminated in the first round by
Wu Yize. A few weeks later, Murphy reached the final of the
German Masters where he was defeated 4–10 by Trump. At the
Tour Championship, he was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Trump. ==Playing style==