Rory McIlroy says the conditions at Augusta this week have made it tough 'mentally' for him and fellow players.
The world No 2 carded a 77 in his second round at the Masters on Friday, admitting that parts of his game felt 'horrific'.
McIlroy is still waiting to win his first major in 10 years at a tournament that he has often had bad experiences in the past.
He famously fell apart in the final round in 2011, shooting an 80 after having a four-stroke advantage heading into the last day.
Rory McIlroy has opened up on the mental struggles he faced at the Masters
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The 34-year-old just made the cut and will start Saturday on +5, 11 shots behind the leaders.
He admits he was happy to just secure his spot for the weekend after a birdie-free round.
McIlroy said: "It was stop and start, hard to get into a rhythm with the conditions and obviously how slow the play was as well. It was a tough day, a really tough day, hard to make a score.
"I felt like I did okay. Even to just par the last four holes and get in the clubhouse and have a tee time tomorrow, I'm pretty happy with.
"Scoring was very difficult. Most of the field couldn't really get anything going. It was just a matter of trying to hang in there as best you could."
Stormy conditions delayed the start of the tournament on Thursday and high winds remained for part of Friday.
McIlroy said it is difficult to cope with the inconsistencies that the wind brings.
He added: "Mentally it's a grind because you just have to try to commit as best you can to the shot that you're trying to play.
"One second you'll have a shot that's playing 150, and then if the wind does something different, the shot could be playing 180. It could be a 30-yard difference.
"You have to commit to trying to play the right shot, but then you also have to hit it at the right time as well. So it's pretty tricky."
McIlroy sought advice from Butch Harmon last month in an attempt to tweak things in his game.
But he admitted he was not happy with how he felt during the second round.
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Rory McIlroy carded a 77 on Friday to put himself 11 shots off the lead
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Please write at "My golf swing felt horrific for the last six or seven holes, just from hitting around," he said.
"Especially that 11th hole [where I double bogeyed]. I felt like it took an hour to play that hole.
"It was stop and start, hard to get into a rhythm with the conditions and obviously how slow the play was as well."
However, McIlroy is not giving up hope of storming back to complete an incredible win this weekend.1 paragraphs
Rory McIlroy believes he can still come back to win at the Masters
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He said: "I won from 10 back in Dubai at the start of the year. But obviously the Dubai Desert Classic and the Masters are two very different golf tournaments. We'll see.
"Hopefully the conditions are a little better tomorrow. Yeah, I still think I can go out tomorrow and shoot a low one, get back into red numbers, and have half a chance going into Sunday."
