It came during one of the Tour’s social media stunts in Dubai last week where a selection of 1990s metal headed drivers were available on the 8th tee during the practise round.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen this particular trick, but the experiment is always interesting not only to see the shots the pros hit but their attitude towards the old equipment.

For most it’s a wry smile and a look that suggests ‘thank god we don’t have to play with THAT stuff anymore’.

But Englishman Sullivan said the quiet part out loud when he said: “They keep on going on about rolling back the club and the ball. Imagine how s*#t we’d all be without it!”

Was the four-time Tour winner joking? Yes.

But does it perhaps hint at the fear that underscores so much of the resistance to controlling technology for the broader good of the game? I think so.

"Making the game harder at the top level would likely only improve the spectacle for those of us watching. Imagine if Rory had needed to hit driver off the deck at the last to seal his fourth Dubai win?" – Rod Morri.

I have no idea if they are the majority, but a significant number of golfers have played their entire lives without ever encountering a wooden wood or even a small headed metal driver.

For those golfers (of which Sullivan may be one) it’s easy to imagine how terrifying it must be to look down at a club that is supposed to be the most powerful in the bag and see it is barely the size of a modern 5-wood.

But reality disagrees with Sullivan and those who feel their golf would suffer irreparably with rolled back equipment because plenty of amazing golf was played in the era before the frying pan driver.

Ironically, one of the most iconic moments of the Dubai tournament is Colin Montgomerie’s driver off the deck second shot to the par-5 18th hole on his way to victory in 1996.

The shot was replayed ad nauseum this past week and rightly so. Watching players routinely hit as little as mid-irons for their second on the same hole all week only highlighted what an extraordinary effort Monty’s was.

But it also proves the best players would simply ‘figure it out’ if equipment rules are changed.

While there has been much hand wringing about the proposed rollback of the ball one can only imagine the response if there are moves to reduce size of the driver head.

But making the game harder at the top level would likely only improve the spectacle for those of us watching. Imagine if Rory had needed to hit driver off the deck at the last to seal his fourth Dubai win? They’re the moments we watch sport for

Of those who sampled the vintage drivers last week Adam Scott perhaps put it best when he noted: “Most guys probably think that’s weird (the club) but that’s what I learned to play with.”

It certainly didn’t seem to hurt Australia’s only Masters champion and if we turned the clock back a bit on tech it wouldn’t do any harm to the future stars of the game, either.

(Or the rest of us but that’s a different discussion for another day.)