The squall, one of many in an angry old afternoon, came in off the estuary that acts as an natural barrier between the old golf links and the old racecourse. On days like these, there's really no place to hide and the meteorological phenomenon appropriately matched the mood of Gary Murphy as he headed into the recorder's hut after his final round in the Nissan Irish Open.

Dark clouds hovered over the player's head, and such a reaction of disappointment after securing a top-15 finish in his national championship reflected the targets Murphy sets for himself these days. It's not about merely making cuts any more, it's about chasing titles. For Murphy, the bar has been raised, and he's the one who has raised it.

"It's heartbreaking to mess up really, because you don't get many chances to win an Irish Open," said Murphy, who, escaping the rain and wind, conducted his post-round chat on the tiny staircase that leads to the players' lounge.

"I'm really disappointed. I had a chance going into the back nine and I lost my composure."

The consolation of finishing as leading Irishman - an unlikely event after his opening round 74 - was a minor one. He had been chasing more than that. At one stage, Murphy was cruising. Following on from his back nine on Saturday when he had taken just 33 strokes over the homeward stretch, Murphy kept the momentum going by grabbing three birdies in his opening seven holes. Nobody was playing better golf and, suddenly, he was seven-under for the tournament; and right in the mix. The time had come for him to bare his teeth.

Yesterday, it looked as if Murphy was mounting a serious challenge as he accumulated early birdies and the crowds flocked over the sandhills in support. On the third, he hit a wedge approach to 20 feet and holed the birdie putt. On the sixth, he was in the front trap in two, blasted out to six feet and holed the birdie putt. On the seventh, he hit a seven-iron to 30 feet. Again, the putt dropped.

"When I got to seven-under, I was trying to win the bloody thing," said Murphy.

The wheels started to fall off on the ninth, though, as he suffered his first bogey. With the wind blowing hard in off the Baldoyle estuary, he hit it down the left, expecting the ball to move. "It never budged and I got punished," he said of a lie that suggested the ball would jump out but didn't. Still, one dropped shot didn't constitute a disaster.

Another bogey on the following hole, however, effectively signalled the end of the challenge. "Ah, it was criminal what I did on the 10th. It was a real punch in the teeth to me," he remarked. He had 67 yards to the pin, hit a lob wedge he thought was "right down the flag" only for it to finish in a swail he didn't know was there. He didn't get up and down to save par. "I found it hard keep my composure after that, knowing there were no eagles out there," he admitted.

The loss of focus was compounded by a further bogey on the 13th. A birdie on the 17th was followed by a finishing bogey and a round of 72 for four-under-par 284 and tied-11th place.

"I'm disappointed, because I had a chance (to win). I got to seven-under after seven holes and I was only three off the lead. I was really relaxed and enjoying it. The putts were going in, which hadn't happened in a while, and I felt really good. I was swinging the club fine. I just lost my composure after the 10th and then I'm walking up the 18th fairway and I see that 10-under is still leading and it really got to me. I had a chance and it didn't happen."

Murphy, who has played for the past six straight weeks, is like a man who doesn't want to stop playing golf and he has decided to play in this week's Scandinavian Masters in Sweden. "What's the point in not playing? I couldn't get into the bloody things last year," he said, "and I am playing well. I've had a fantastic month."

Indeed, he has. He's already secured his card for next season; he's got to play four rounds in a British Open and he's finished leading Irishman in the Irish Open. But there's a bigger picture and Murphy wants to be part of that, and that means contending for a title. For a time yesterday he looked ready.