As for the shots going where they want..its "deviation" i know its a pi55 take and its fustrated me on many of occasions, but its there to test us and to stop scores getting even more unrealistic than they all ready are.
i've spent loads of $$ myself(mostly other peoples $$ because i'm self sufficient) on clubs, feeding my ball addiction (currently have 20 callaways, but buy a pack a day to keep them at 20) and have seen balls lost in strange places, but mostly all down to me slicing shots (or meter), but no one's held a gun to my head and made me spend on the game, i've done it out of enjoyment. Practice a bit more and get used to it, because if you cant handle the master tier, wait until your a legend.
But answering the op, i've noticed random shots lately, an example i've just played a 135 yard 9i with backspin into 17 mph headwind on St Andy's #3 and the shot went 133 yards, the exact distance it would have travelled if wind was zero. So my conclusion is the wind has become more unstable and for some shots it disappears and maybe doubles for others, this would count for shots going long & also short, but the game has always been like this, its either bad game physics that makes it inconsistant, or put in purposely as "deviation". Maybe the word "deviation" has spread through the game to cover up the bad game physics?????..the quest for perfection continues...lol