It must have been all the stuff I was getting off my mind last week about ERC drivers and the like. Anyway, I since found myself discussing power hitting with Darren Clarke, who would be acknowledged as something of an expert on the subject. And in a nutshell, his contention is that unless you hit it long on tour these days, you'll starve.

As it happens, it is now 10 years since the industry was revolutionised by the arrival of the Big Bertha driver from Callaway. And in 1991, America's Peter Teravainen led the long-driving statistics on the European Tour with an average hit of 278.4 yards.

In the season just ended, Angel Cabrera headed the list with a whopping 303.5 yards and was only narrowly ahead of fellow Argentinian, Ricardo Gonzalez, with 303.3. Even more revealing is that with a mean of 264.6 yards in 1991, your quintessential Mr Average, Peter Baker, was tied 36th. Ten years on, Baker is averaging 274.1 off the tee and is tied 156th.

"You simply can't compete unless you're hitting it long," said Clarke, whose average drive of 291.5 yards left him 15th in the current list. "That's the biggest improvement in my game over the last five years." Funnily enough, I would have thought it was his ability to get his wedge shots very much closer to the flag.

Anyway, to emphasise his point, Clarke repeated a view shared by Paul McGinley to the effect that at his best, Nick Faldo wouldn't be able to compete at the top these days, because of his lack of length (271.8 yards). So, how do average or relatively short hitters like Bernhard Langer and Des Smyth survive? "Langer is much longer than he was," claimed Clarke.

The facts suggest otherwise. Langer, sixth in the Order of Merit, had an average drive last season of 274.8 yards for 150th place in the stats, while Smyth was 168th on 272.5 yards. On the other hand, Ireland's top player in 2001, Padraig Harrington, was 44th on 285.5 yards. Harrington was also the top putter for greens in regulation (1.723) and led the stroke-average with 69.23 compared with 69.45 from the 1991 leader, Seve Ballesteros.

"Length is obviously an advantage, but I disagree with Darren about Faldo," said Smyth. "If he putted as he once did, he would still be winning tournaments."

So, what's happening? "The advantage in length has to be set against longer, more difficult courses," said Smyth. "It's now commonplace for us to have par fours of 460 yards, where a lot of good amateurs wouldn't get home in two. Fairways are also narrower and the rough around the greens is much tougher."

Still, he admitted that when playing with Paul Casey in the Smurfit European Open at The K Club last July, he hit a drive, three-wood and 80-yard pitch to the long 13th, which the young Englishman reached with a drive and four iron.

Against that background, how could Smyth manage to continue winning on tour and end the season in 79th position in the Order of Merit with earnings of €249,550?

"Like Langer has done, I've had to improve my iron play," he said. "In fact my all-round game is probably better now than it was 10 years ago." The man from Mornington, near Drogheda, concluded: "It's all about getting an edge. Darren believes he gets it from his length; I rely on accuracy and improved ball-striking. And there's nothing new in this. Long hitters have always had an advantage."

"What is love compared with holing out before your opponent?"

This quote from the inimitable PG Wodehouse is to be found in the 2002 issue of The Golfer's Bible: Ireland. It also contains some great cartoons by Martyn Turner and a foreword by Christy O'Connor Snr. Enquiries to Tony Deegan at 0903 27918.