After beating the likes of Dominic Dale and Luca Brecel, 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.