Sloppy conditions, labelled by veteran Taj Burrow among the worst he'd encountered on the world surfing tour, have marred the resumption of competition to the season opener on the Gold Coast.
Australian Burrow, the most experienced surfer on tour behind 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, slammed the conditions at Snapper Rocks after defeating New Zealand's Ricardo Christie in Wednesday's second round.
Having delayed the men's competition by 10 days and extending the tournament window to Friday, organisers were almost obliged to resume the event regardless of conditions.
In choppy one metre waves, Burrow scored a two-wave total of 15.17 out of 20 to progress to round three at the expense of Christie, who could only score 9.84 with his best two waves.
West Australian Burrow pulled no punches after his heat.
"It's probably the worst conditions I've surfed in a world tour event," Burrow said.
"They were leg burners, a lot of work."
Burrow, 36, was one of four Australians to win second round heats on Wednesday including three-time world champion Mick Fanning.
It was Fanning who opened the day, scoring a two-wave total of 15.50 to beat American wildcard Dane Reynolds (9.43) and set up a third-round clash with American powerhouse Dusty Payne.
Other Australians through to the round of 24 include Josh Kerr and Owen Wright.
They'll be joined by former world champion Joel Parkinson, who won passage into the third round with a first round victory way back on the first day of competition on February 28.
Matt Wilkinson, Julian Wilson and Bede Durbridge are the other Australians who will chase a fourth-round berth when competition resumes.
American great Kelly Slater was also a winner on Wednesday, the 11-time world champion beating local trials winner Jack Freestone to set up a third round clash with Brazilian rookie Italo Ferreira.
Ireland's Glenn Hall, who caused the upset of the day by eliminating Tahiti's Michel Bourez, will meet defending world champion Gabriel Medina in the third round.
Organisers will convene at 7.30am AEST on Thursday to determine if conditions are suitable for the competition to resume.
They could also resume the women's draw, which is up to the quarter-finals stage with defending world champion Stephanie Gilmore set to face Brazil's Silvana Lima for the third time in the competition.
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