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.