Gary Murphy's alarm clock rang a little before four o'clock yesterday morning, before the first worm had even dared to raise its head out of the ground.

But the sleep was well and truly rubbed from his eyes by the time - 6.30 a.m. - that he launched his first shot of the day down the crusty fairways of Sandwich. Another 73 shots later, the 30-year-old Kilkenny man had ensured he would survive, quite comfortably, the cut in only his second appearance in a major.

These days, surviving the cut, even in a major, is not what makes Murphy happy. In a week, much has changed and expectations have risen accordingly. His fourth-place finish in last week's Scottish Open at Loch Lomond - when he only got in as a reserve after Phil Golding withdrew due to injury - brought a double bonus of enough prize money to ensure his card for next season and a spot in the British Open. Murphy has made the most of it, but, the farther yesterday's second round progressed, the more he wanted.

At one stage, after five holes, he had moved up to sixth. Sixth! in the Open! The guy who had been to tour qualifying school on eight occasions was showing a new maturity, a sense of belonging. However, from the 14th, he went double bogey, bogey, bogey - four dropped shots in three holes - which he later described as "sloppy". To his credit, he parred the last two holes, signed for a 74, which left him on five-over-par 147, and could look ahead to playing over the weekend.

Happy? Not really.

"I'm pretty dejected, to be honest," said Murphy. "After playing some really nice golf, to finish three over for the day is a bit of a downer. Beforehand, if you'd given me making the cut, I would have taken it. But when you get into a position to do really well, and you've dropped those four shots coming in, it is disappointing. To do it in a junior scratch cup would be disappointing, never mind doing it in the Open. That's why it is so frustrating. You don't mind too much if you get unlucky, but I gave away shots."

Murphy had started off like a train on the outward journey. Birdies on the fourth and fifth brought him back to level par (and sixth place), and though he bogeyed the ninth, he held his game together really well until the 14th, a par-five 550 yards - into the wind - with more trouble than a walk down Dublin's O'Connell Street after midnight.

"A couple of sloppy holes cost me - this course can grab you and that's what happened," he said.

On the 14th, after a drive down the left, he looked to play a three iron into position. He had 160 yards into the wind to carry a lurking sand trap. "I didn't really hit it properly," he admitted. It finished in the bunker, where he had to play out sideways. He hit his fourth shot to 30 feet and compounded his errors by three-putting for a double-bogey seven. When he found firstly rough and then another bunker over the following two holes, he was dropping shots too readily. But he steadied the ship sufficiently to par the last two.

Murphy intends to enjoy his weekend at the Open. On his debut appearance in the British Open at Troon in 1997, he was blown away on the first day.

"This is great, a good buzz . . . and hopefully the grandstands will be a little fuller when I get to the 18th," he said.

"Playing here wasn't planned in a sense, because I didn't think I was going to get into Loch Lomond. But once you're here, you're here to compete. I am not here to make up the numbers."

His showing in Loch Lomond, he suggested, was a turning point in his career: "My target for the season initially was to keep my card. Now, it is to finish in the top 60 on the money list and get into the Volvo Masters. This week is a huge week for me because the money is enormous. That's my ambition, to become a top player on the tour, and I think my game has always been at that level. I'm a lot more relaxed on the course than I used to be, which is allowing me to get where I want to be. Even in 2000, when I lost my card, I was top 15 in ball striking, so I always had the game."

If there is a weakness, it has been his putting, and he has been using a glass-headed putter in recent months.

"I don't think my putting is all of a sudden outstanding," he said, "but it has improved a bit more." Yesterday, though, he had 31 putts to follow the 33 he had on Thursday - so it is an area that needs further improvement.

These days, though, there is a bit of a swagger to Murphy, and that has to do with the fact he really believes he belongs in this company. His play of the past week would confirm that. Now, the thing is to show it over the weekend in a major. For the first time in his life, he has the chance to do that.