According to US Ryder Cup captain Curtis Strange, it adds 12 yards to a drive and three or four yards onto an approach-iron shot. And the new, Titleist Pro V1 golf ball certainly delivered a handsome dividend for Joe Durant, in his record-breaking victory in the Bob Hope Classic at PGA West last weekend.

Indeed Durant's scoring was so hot that five rounds of 65 in the 90-hole event would have been good enough only for second place. The 36-year-old, whose only previous win was in the 1998 Western Open, broke USPGA Tour records for 72 holes (29 under par) and for 90 holes, with a winning effort of 36 under, lowering the target of 35 under set by Tom Kite in 1993.

With Mark Calcavecchia producing a record 256 in last month's Phoenix Open and with 12 rounds of 63 or better last weekend, American scoring has become so good that observers there are predicting regular, sub60 scores in the not too distant future. Yet Frank Thomas, the recently retired technical director of the USGA, would have us believe that the ball is not a factor.

"There's only a couple of yards of a difference among the best balls, if that," claims Thomas. And he insists that "the most popular ball on tour" is only 10 to 12 yards longer than it was in the early 1950s. Strange thinks differently. So does Vijay Singh, who used the new Titleist ball in Malaysia last weekend. And it seems inconceivable that such experienced professionals could be deluding themselves.

With a large rubber core, a speed-enhancing ionomer casing and a thin, soft urethane cover and uniform compression, the construction of the Pro V1 is considerably different from the standard, wound ball. Available to tournament professionals since last October, the same ball will be on general sale here from April.