Murphy lost to Luca Brecel in the China Championship on Tuesday before taking four flights in two days to get to Furth in Germany, but he showed few signs of jet-lag on Friday by winning three matches to book his place in the final day of the tournament.
The world number five then defeated Zhao Xintong and Ben Woollaston 4-2 in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively and then won the last three frames of his semi-final with Jamie Jones to set up a meeting with White.
However, his hopes of a first ranking title of the season were thwarted once again as his Welsh opponent held his nerve with a fine break of 97 to complete a 4-2 victory.
It's White's second career ranking title having picked up his maiden crown at the 2015 Indian Open while the result also ends a poor run of form which had seen him fail to reach a quarter-final in nine months.
Earlier in the day the 26-year-old from Neath had crushed defending champion Mark Selby 4-1 in the last 16 before brushing aside Ian Burns and Mitchell Mann by the same scorelines as he grew in confidence.
White, who scoops the £20,000 top prize, told www.worldsnooker.com: "It means the world to me. The last couple of years have been a struggle because I have not competed with the top boys, or even felt that I was able to. But I have put a lot of work in and it has paid off.
"When I missed the black in the fifth frame I didn’t feel that I could make a break after that. I dug as deep as I could."
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Paul Hunter Classic: Final Day results
Fourth round (best of seven frames)
Gary Wilson 4-2 Chris Wakelin
Peter Lines 0-4 Jamie Jones
Ben Woollaston 4-0 Tom Ford
Shaun Murphy 4-2 Zhao Xintong
Kyren Wilson 3-4 Ian Burns
Michael White 4-1 Mark Selby
George Pragnall 1-4 Mitchell Mann
Mark Joyce 4-3 Mark King
Quarter-finals (Best of seven frames)
Gary Wilson 2-4 Jamie Jones
Ben Woollaston 2-4 Shaun Murphy
Ian Burns 1-4 Michael White
Mitchell Mann 4-3 Mark Joyce
Semi-finals (Sunday from 1500 BST)
Jamie Jones 3-4 Shaun Murphy
Michael White 4-1 Mitchell Mann
Final (Sunday from 1900 BST)
Shaun Murphy 2-4 Michael White
Click here for the full tournament results
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