The professional courses are tougher now than they were 10-15 years ago. They've tried to eliminate the consistency gains achieved through the technical achievements of the golfing industry. In doing so, many courses that are "newer" courses have made scoring in the low 80's quite an achievement for us mere mortals when playing from the Championship Tees.
IMO, playing a tight course that makes you think before you step up and hammer away has the same effect though. When the fairway narrows to 20 yards in the landing area, with OB to either side, it's time to put away your pride, pick a club you know you can put in the fairway, and "sweet-swing" it. Yes, hitting that driver 270 down the middle looks great if you pull it off, but if I hit my hybrid 220 into the fairway while you're hitting 3 on the tee box, I'm probably going to win the hole, and gain stroke advantage.
Brains are irreplaceable.