Justin Rose felt the "ridiculous" weather that hit Royal Troon on Friday afternoon savaged his hopes of winning the Open Championship.
The former US Open champion saw the good work from his first-round 68 undone as he shot 77 on day two to slump to three over par, 13 off the lead.
After teeing off at 2.04pm, Rose was among the players affected by heavy rain and strong gusts of wind late afternoon.
It left the 35-year-old Englishman, who played alongside Jordan Spieth and Shane Lowry, battling to make the cut.
He said: "It was ridiculous. You know when you see such a disparity between the draw and you see no name from this side of the draw popping up, it's just frustrating.
"Our group was bound to make the cut but (seeing) great players doing their best to make the cut tells you it was tough out there.
"The hard part is trying to put the other side of the golf course, the other side of the draw and the leaderboard out of your mind because it kind of felt like that was unattainable.
"I made eight straight pars on the back nine. I was working as hard as I could. It just didn't feel like there was any relief because you knew there were no real run of birdie holes where you could make some inroads. It was grinding it in to the house."
To illustrate Rose's point on how earlier starters benefited, the top 14 on the leaderboard after the second round all teed off before 10.09am.
Rose actually felt he played well, aside from one bad shot on the fourth when he threw his club away in anger.
He said: "That was just a really bad mistake, the one real poor error. I played pretty well from that point on and you've always got to hang in there."
A two-tee start was used for the first time in Open history in the third round at Hoylake in 2014 in anticipation of bad weather, which memorably arrived just as eventual winner Rory McIlroy was giving his post-round press conference.
Asked if he would like to see the same system implemented full time, McIlroy joked: "I was probably saying that to myself on the 13th hole. Everyone had the spell where it was brutal and for us it was on 13.
"I hit a drive that I thought was 20 yards left of the fairway and I got up there and it was in the middle of the fairway just because it went about 230 (yards).
"But it's one of the traditions of the Open and I respect that. The first group tees off at 6:30am and the last at 4:30pm and it's the only tournament where we do that."
Speaking about a second round of 71 which left him two under par, McIlroy added: "I used to hate playing in conditions like that but I have found a way to get myself round the course and be as positive as possible.
"No-one enjoys it but there is some sort of challenge to it. I made it a goal of mine to play better in these conditions and that was one of the better ones.
"I'm trying to be as optimistic as I can and I can draw on memories of being in a similar position and having won, but this is a little different."
World number one Jason Day claimed he had never played in worse weather.
The Australian had hoped to move up the leaderboard but dropped two shots on the back nine and had to settle for a one-under-par 70 that took him to one over.
Asked if it was the worst storm he had played in, he said: "Yes, by far. We totally expected to have conditions that were going to be difficult, but not to the point where it was blowing 30 to 40 miles an hour with winds and rain coming in sideways.
"It was coming down pretty heavy on me. My weather gear is totally soaked now, and I've got to somehow dry it out before tomorrow."
Rickie Fowler, the world number seven, came home in 38 for a one-over-par 72 that dropped him to one under but played down the affects of the weather.
Fowler said: "That wasn't that bad compared to St George's (in 2011). There were times it was blowing pretty good and coming in sideways, but I remember at St George's on the Saturday I couldn't even use my umbrella.
"But that's about as tough as you're going to see the back nine play."
Source: PA
