Wharton captained the side at the Amex Stadium, where Palace were unable to repeat their victories of the past two seasons.
Instead Brighton hit them with a triple blow in the first ten minutes. Jaydee Canvot's fourth-minute headed own goal, a halfway line stunner from Diego Gomez and Yasin Ayari's smart finish ended the contest before it had barely started.
"I don't think we could have started any worse to be honest," Wharton reflected after the game. "It was nowhere near enough... from every single one of us.
"When you put yourself in that position, it's never going to be easy.
"They're a team in form, they have good players, we made it very difficult for ourselves from the first minute
"We were too slow from the start. They were getting second balls, first balls and winning duels.
"They get the early goal from the free kick and they've got momentum and then they get another two quickly. When you concede one early you've got to tie it up, and you can't concede another.