This topic has tempted me to do some data-mining.
There's an suggestion in the OP that 147s have become a bit ten a penny
recently.
But is this actually the case?
Also, some evidence proving that World Championship 147s are indeed harder to come by than in other tournaments.
So:
Looking at the WSC 147s, over 50% have come from just 2 players, Hendry and O'Sullivan with 3 apiece. Well, they are hardly representative of the whole game getting more 147s more regularly. Aside from those 2, another two come from Higgins and MJW. Well, you'd think those two would probably get one wouldn't you, we're probably more surprised they never got more. That only leaves Thorburn's first, White in '92 and Carter's.
That's no great cavalcade of 147s.
And it's not modern either.
1 = 1980s
3 = 1990s
5= 2000s
1= 2010s
1 = 2020s
From those stats, 147s have been dropping off significantly. At least in the WSC.
What I noticed from looking at these 147s was that, even with brilliant players, like Hendry & the like, they tended to get them quite late on in their career.
The only 147 made at the Crucible by any player ever, even in the qualifiers, when that player was under 25 was once by Ronnie O'Sullivan, when he was 21 - that super fast one.
That's it.
Hendry only made his first at 26, and he's the next youngest on the list.
Only four 147s have ever been made at the WSC, including qualifiers, by anyone under 30, and two of those were RoS. Carter is actually the third youngest at a whopping 28.
This, to me, is additional proof that a WSC 147 is indeed much harder than any other 147. Because it requires so much of that steely nerve that can only come with age.
So now I'm looking at age of players in ALL competitions getting 147s and the result was:
only 19.6% of all 147s ever made in pro competition were by people under 25. And the breakdown of those youngsters is:
1 = 1980s (Davis)
11 = 1990s
12 = 2000s
8 = 2010s
1 = 2020s
Suggesting, again, that 147s are actually in a decline - or, rather, that new
great players are in a decline.
However, it would make sense that 147s are going up in frequency generally, because the snooker scene is so much 'older' now, there are so many more players who have reached a stage in their career when going for a 147 doesn't send their ball sack into their mouth with nerves.