I think it is possible to identify a "potential" variable that could be manipulated … without declaring it is absolute fact or known.
Many people discuss various factors including wind influencing putts on the greens... still it can be any number of things that allow the game to play differently...
Aside from being easy or forward tees, consider how much easier they seem to play and how many more putts seem to fall in those rounds...
I know I have played some tournaments when it seemed like I couldn't miss but when I transition to the BOP5 in higher level conditions... the game seems to play qualitatively more difficult. Putts that seemed to fall effortlessly are now missing...
Again, not saying anything definitely... but merely observations can sometimes lead one to feel a certain way given how they are experiencing the game or noticing when they do play...
It seems entirely plausible that variables could be built into the game that different tiers and different tees have different "parameters" regardless of what we try to label them but any number of those variables could be adjusted in order for different tiers or tee sets to play differently in order to assist players with moving up the levels.