Asked if her scores had gone down, she smiled and conceded, "Not yet."

To many in the golf business, such responses reflect the spirit of golf's eternal, mystical quest for a better score. There are more than 26 million golfers in America, and most seem to believe they are getting better. Many undoubtedly are, but the statistics say a majority is not.

Still, the interplay between hope and reality is part of the gestalt of the game.

Meanwhile, like a cosmic collection of golf jokes -- or golf tips -- theories on why golfers are not improving surface in all forms and delve into every realm: life pressures, psychological demons, the changing family unit, the flood of baby boomer retirees, even post-Sept. 11 effects.

The most common culprit cited, though, is the disconnect between what the average golfer seeks -- the longest drives in the weekly foursome -- and what the average golfer really needs, which is skill at hitting the ball deftly in the final 50 yards on most holes.

"They watch golf on TV and then they all want to hit it far, like Tiger Woods," said Dr. Bob Rotella, golf's best-known psychologist and a best-selling author. "Well, good luck. They should be going to their teacher and saying, 'I want to hit it like Fred Funk.' Physically, they are much more like him. That would make a lot more sense."

Mr. Funk is a 5-foot-8, 48-year-old PGA Tour pro who ranks first in driving accuracy and 186th in driving distance. He is also seventh on the PGA money list this season with more than $1.9 million in earnings.

"Part of the problem is that golf instruction has been incredibly one-dimensional," said Lynn Marriott, a teaching pro based in Arizona who is on Golf Magazine's list of the nation's top-100 instructors. "Most golf lessons are not golf lessons, they are golf-swing lessons. The game is still about getting it in the hole, not about having the proper backswing."

Dr. Rotella said he would like to see the pay for instructors based on how much their students' scores were lowered. Of course, instructors, who are paid by the hour or the lesson, overwhelmingly maintain that students, if they take lessons at all, refuse to take instruction that would help them the most.