In fairness, this is something Padraig Harrington has kind of intimated in his videos as well. I'm not sure I agree with it (frankly, I don't pretend to have done the research), but the (overly simplified) idea is somehow that if you don't max your speed early, your brain essentially puts a governor on you for the rest of your life at the speed you were stuck at early.
Seems kind of kooky to me as a concept, but I guess I can understand the theoretical idea that the brain sort of "learns" how fast it thinks your body can go and you unconsciously set at that level. I don't know.