So, there was clearly a bit of a gap, almost exactly four years in fact, between my 396th appearance at the 2018 Barracuda Championship and my 397th at the same event in 2022.

Given that length of time, you won’t be surprised to hear that things on the PGA Tour, while largely the same, have seen some change over the course of what were 47 months in total.

The first thing I have noticed this year – which came as no surprise – is that there are more and more good players out there. It’s actually incredible the scores that are getting shot. It seems like the cut every week is about three- or four-under-par. And you have to shoot better than 20-under for 72-holes to have any hope of winning. If you shoot, say, 12-under for four rounds you tend to finish somewhere around 60th. That’s how it feels anyway.

We’re not talking about chip-and-putt courses either. Most weeks, the venues are really long and not easy to score on. So, the level of play between 2018 and 2023 is obviously better. Way better, although it should be noted that I myself have not yet played great in any one week. It can be argued that my perception is skewed. Whereas I used to know exactly where my good play stacked up against everyone else, I’m not sure I’m able to tell anymore.

It’s a relentless process really. On any other Tour in the world, you can pretty much tell the winning score after 36-holes. If, say, 12-under-par is leading after two rounds, somewhere around 18-under will typically be good enough to claim victory. Now it feels like you have to keep shooting six-under-par every day to have a chance. You just have to keep going.

Another thing. There are definitely more ‘good-looking’ players.

Back when I arrived on Tour there were five of those. Everyone else looked like they were simply trying to find a way around. Today there are 130 players who appear to be good at just about every aspect of the game. That was never true even 20-years ago. Back then, golf at the pro level was something of a dark art. Some naturally hit the ball well but struggled on the greens. Others putted really well but couldn’t hit that well. There was a balancing effect. No more. Today, everyone seems to be good at everything. Or at least they are a lot better than they used to be.

It doesn't matter what lies in front of Scottie Scheffler, he will find a way to contend. PHOTO: Getty Images.

To be fair, other than this year’s Honda Classic, where the wind didn’t really blow, I haven’t played any of the really challenging courses on Tour. When I watched the Masters or the PGA on television, the golf looked more like the Tour I used to play. Mostly, however, the courses we play have evolved. They certainly don’t grow rough like they used to. Proper rough, like what we saw in the PGA at Oak Hill, is all but extinct, which encourages players to hit as hard as they can off the tee and as far as they can – then just find the ball.

Gone are the days of narrow courses and long rough – ‘hack-out’ stuff. ‘Long and wide’ is the norm these days. I’m not sure that appeals to me most weeks, although there are some long and wide courses that are really good. But I’d rather my complete game be tested a bit more often on the way round. For the rare guy who doesn’t hit his drives over 300 yards – mostly the older guys like me – there is definitely a feeling that they are being disadvantaged unfairly.

"The level of play between 2018 and 2023 is obviously better. Way better, although it should be noted that I myself have not yet played great in any one week. It can be argued that my perception is skewed." - Geoff Ogilvy.

That sounds like I’m saying the game and the courses are more one-dimensional than they used to be. And yes, the typical Tour event is more one-dimensional than a major. But there are exceptions on Tour like Riviera, where a variety of questions get asked. But yes, those questions have changed. Where we used to be asked to hit straight drives and putt really well, the game on Tour now is a long-hitting and putting contest.

There have always been ‘grinders’ on Tour, guys who have worked hard and hit a lot of balls. Now though, it’s everyone. They are all at the course early. They are all in the gym. They all walk around with stretching apparatus. They all have personal trainers. They all play practice rounds armed with launch monitors. They all have the sort of mentality personified by Matt Fitzpatrick where every shot is analysed and dissected. No stone is left unturned. No data is ignored. The game at the elite level has always been professional, but never more so than it is now.

Ogilvy is back playing regularly on the PGA Tour and getting a front row seat to how good the players are. PHOTO: Getty images.

Time will tell if this is all good, in terms of the level of play. But there are other factors. Are we simply 25 years on from a point in history where the most marketable golfer in history – Tiger Woods – came along and made the game look cool? Are the guys today the product of that and the subsequent explosion in purses? Are they all golfers because of Tiger? Is what I see today simply evidence of all that, or have we actually worked out golf more than ever before?

I’m not sure. Maybe all of those factors have contributed to today’s reality.

What hasn’t changed is that most guys on Tour are still winning 90 percent of their money in ten percent of their tournaments. But it isn’t true for the very best players. Look at someone like Scottie Scheffler. He is up there in contention almost every week he plays. But for the majority, it is true such consistency is unattainable. So, the best plan is to hit driver off every tee, try to birdie every hole and wait for the hot week, or weeks, to come along. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, oh well, there is always next week. In other words, I don’t see much laying up in an effort to make pars. Most players go for pretty much everything.

What game do I prefer? I don’t love ‘chip out’ rough. But I don’t like the idea that you can hit driver everywhere either. Ideally, the rough should be of a length that allows the better players to separate themselves from the rest.

Hang on though. I don’t want to sound ‘whiney’ here. The best golfers are the best golfers, wherever we play. Look at Scheffler again. He gets himself into contention on tough courses as well as those where 25-under wins. So, the PGA Tour is finding the best golfers most weeks. Maybe that search isn’t exactly what I like best, but if you play well you will be rewarded on Tour. Only now you have to play even better than you used to.