One person recognizing a corroboration between distance and skill/talent is not reinforcement.
If you read my longer/windier post that follows, you'll see that length is not the only definition of greatness when it comes to golf.
I continue to deceive/delude myself into thinking that my tempo, my whip, my snap, my release, are as fast as they might have once been. At 51, I'm hitting the ball very well, which I would offer 75% to equipment and 25% to fitness.
Unless you're swinging hickory or other period pieces, yesterday's courses are today's courses. If you put on the restrictor plate, you're playing yesterday's courses as yesterday's courses.
I'm of the mind that tasting what it's like to be a pro, if only for a moment or a round, is enlightening. If technology allows us to have that sensation, we are privy to something that basketball, football, american football, swimming, diving, rugby, wrestling aficionados dream of. It's one of the perquisites of our chosen vice.
If a course like Merion East needs to change its setup to accommodate the elite touring pro, that's fine. Just change it back when the tournament ends, a festivus for the restofus.