A frustrated Kelly Slater says he hasn't gotten a good wave at the World Surf League event on the Gold Coast in two years.
The legendary American was knocked out of the Snapper Rocks event on Sunday after a shock second round loss to injury replacement wildcard Stu Kennedy.
Slater could only score 13.10 out of 20 in the competition while Kennedy pulled out all the stops on the wave after Slater's last scoring ride to take the win.
The Lennox Heads surfer, using a board made by Slater's own surfboard company, nailed three high-risk manoeuvres to score a 9.50 and finish with a two-wave score of 15.73.
It's the second year running Slater has made a quick exit at the season-opening event.
The 44-year-old, who has won the Quiksilver Pro four times in his illustrious career, admitted he'd contemplated pressuring organisers to put the event on hold before his heat began.
"I had a gameplan which was to do my best to pick the best waves, which was a relative term, because there really weren't very good waves out there," he said.
"The thing with Snapper and wind swells is just catching the right waves.
"Stu was basically on the ropes in that heat. I probably wouldn't play the heat any different had I gone back and surfed it again.
"I'm not really that frustrated other than the waves have been crap in every heat I've surfed the last two years. I'm starting to lose my brain a little bit."
The win was a massive moment for Kennedy, who is only competing on tour following Bede Durbidge's serious pelvis injury suffered in Hawaii last year.
The 26-year-old, who has spent many years on the world tour qualifying series, said he's eager to make the most of the opportunity handed to him.
"I can use the points to requalify for the tour and that's my plan," he said.
"With that injury I don't think he's going to be back any time soon and he admitted it to me."
In other heats on Sunday, world champion Adriano de Souza set up a rematch with first round conqueror Australian Mikey Wright.
Others to reach the third round included Australian pair Josh Kerr and Ryan Callinan.
Kerr eliminated compatriot Adam Melling while Callinan had an upset victory over South Africa's Jordy Smith.
Organisers will make a call at 7.30am on Monday on whether conditions are good enough to resume competition.
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