A steady stream of players finished their rounds at Royal Birkdale yesterday so badly beaten by the wind-swept course that they complained that it had been too long, too hard and that the intention was to embarrass them.

Jerry Kelly, the American, said that it was “the worst set-up I have ever seen”. Simon Dyson, the seasoned English professional, said that it was the “most unenjoyable round of golf I've ever played” and Pat Perez, another American, simply said that he could not wait to go home.

Perez had an 82, 12 over par, and when asked if he thought that he had a chance of beating the cut, he said: “Do you think I care about the weekend? I don't. I really don't care.” He also described Kenny Perry, his fellow American who elected not to play in the Open, as “the smartest guy on the planet”.

On a day of high scoring, when Ernie Els and Vijay Singh, major winners both, finished on ten over par and Sandy Lyle and Rich Beem retired mid-round at 11 and 12 over respectively, it was the tee positioning that came in for particular criticism. The 6th, 11th and 16th are par-fours that several players said were unreachable in two. The onset of poor weather, they said, had been so confidently forecast that the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, which runs the Open, should have moved the tees forward.

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“If that is the way they want it, they are not going to have 50-60 per cent of the field playing to win,” Kelly, who finished on 13 over par, said. “Use some common sense, but they didn't. They were trying to embarrass people. It was obvious what was coming, it was going to be 20-30mph [winds] and raining. There is no need to do that. They played every single tee back.”

In the chorus of disapproval, Justin Leonard said that the tees should have been moved forward, Lee Westwood said that the 6th tee in particular should have been moved, Graeme Storm described the 16th as “comical” and Geoff Ogilvy, who is a big hitter, failed to make the good 230-yard carry into the wind from tee to fairway on the 11th. Kelly will be taking up the matter with Peter Dawson, the R&A chief executive. “I am not going to paint it brown when it is black and white,” Kelly said. “I am going to tell him exactly how I feel.”

Dyson said that a four-handicapper on the course yesterday would have scored in three figures. “I don't remember one day worse,” he said. “Not so much conditions-wise, it's the course. I don't think I ever played a par-four that I couldn't reach with my best drive and three-wood, and there were three of them.”

Dyson was up at 4.10am yesterday to be in the first group, which started at 6.30am, and at the finish, 82 strokes later, he was asked if he hoped that the weather would continue as poorly for the rest of the field. “God, yes,” he said. “I hope it gets worse.”

He did not get his wish, though, for at around noon the rain abated and the wind dropped slightly. By this time, however, Perez, who is from Phoenix, Arizona, and is used to a different kind of climate, had mentally checked out and was looking forward to going home. He was in the second group of the day. He had got up at 2.45am and was on the practice range by 5.30, where his first shot, an eight-iron that went 45 yards, told him everything he needed to know.

It was on the 16th, when he was on his third glove and fifth towel, that he had a triple-bogey seven. It was the final straw. “I got to the point when I didn't care,” he said. “I hate that and it doesn't happen often. You fight, fight, fight and you don't have a chance. It makes you look stupid out there.”

Even worse, Perez said, was when the “brilliant rules official” warned his group for slow play. “I said to the guy, 'Is it a fine or a stroke?' He said, 'It's a warning, then a fine.' I said, 'A fine does not bother me, bring it on.'”