PXG Lightning Drivers, Fairway Woods, & Hybrids Strike With Force

Speed this and speed that - modern drivers are all about three things: speed, forgiveness, and fit, and with PXG's new Lightning line of woods, they accomplish all of that with new technology and expanded model options. But before we dive into the new PXG Lightning Drivers, Fairway Woods, & Hybrids line, let's have a moment to look back.

One of the coolest things to watch PXG do since they launched just over 10 years ago is their progression in the marketplace.

What started as a company with a single iron quickly transitioned into a full-blown top-to-bottom gear company that now offers everything from Zero Torque putters to drivers, balls, and even more budget-friendly beginner sets, not to mention some of the most underrated golf bags on the market.

Okay, let's dive into the new Lightning drivers

PXG Lightning Driver Technology

The Lightning driver series is their latest collection and offers a true upgrade from the previous Black Ops, which, before Lightning, were PXG’s best metal wood series to date, no questions asked.

As far as major tech upgrades are concerned, the newest Lightning drivers offer hugely expanded carbon sections to increase MOI, tune acoustic frequencies, and stiffen the overall body of the driver to deliver more ball speed on center strikes and around the face.

Beyond the expanded fitting options, thanks to a greater selection of segmented models (more on that in a second), the biggest and buzziest design and tech upgrade is what PXG is calling Frequency Tuned Face.

What is Frequency Tuned Face?

I am by no means an engineer, but what I do know is that when the smart people in the room talk, it's best to listen.

In the case of Frequency Tuning a face, as per PXG

With the help of vibration-mode analysis, Lightning drivers are designed to produce natural frequency aligning with compression sequence of the ball during impact, producing a more efficient transfer of energy.

Yeah, it went over my head the first time too.

But, to explain it in the easiest way possible, is that engineers have utilized more carbon fiber and strategic geometries to stiffen the body so the face can flex more efficiently within specific areas. The result. You guessed it. MORE Ball Speed! Plus a driver that sounds extremely powerful at impact.

The first time I put the Lightning Driver in play, the ball speed jump was immediate. What stood out even more was how stable it felt. Even my slight misses held their line. It’s the most consistent driver I’ve had in competition.

PXG PGA TOUR professional, Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

For comparisons sake, the new Lightning driver series averages right around 1.5 mph of additional ball speed across all four models.

PXG Lightning Driver Models

To help golfers find a better fit, PXG is doing something it has never done before for a driver release, and that is releasing four separate models at launch. The new models include:

Lightning Tour - The most compact driver in the series, designed to produce the lowest spin and lowest launching shots in the standard configuration.

Lightning Tour Mid - Designed to deliver lower spin performance with added forgiveness and a slightly larger profile. Think of it as a slightly beefed up tour model, with a more confidence inspiring look.

Lightning Max 10K + - This max forgiveness model offers higher MOI and launch while still offering a spin profile inline with the lightning mid.

Lighting Max Lite - By removing some of the adjustable weighting, this model has a lighter head weight to help golfers looking for added swing speed and launch.

Lightning Fairway Woods & Hybrids

The Lightning line offers a couple of first for PXG, with the biggest (or actually smallest), being a smaller tour focused fairway wood available in a 3 and 5 wood.

This deeper and more compact fairway wood is perfect for golfer who have wanted a smaller fairway wood from PXG, and prefer the look of a rounded and more compact shape at address.

As for the core Lightning fairways, they continue to offer PXG’s more confidence inspiring shape which features a larger face profile to not only deliver confidence but also also more forgiveness and speed on off-center shots. This is make possible because the larger heel and toe profile means the face can flex more in those areas to deliver more ball speed.

The best part is these new Lightning fairway woods are available from 3-wood all the way down to a 27° 11-wood for those that need maximum height and forgiveness.

On a side note, the reason PXG doesn’t offer a “Lite” fairway wood configuration is because thanks to the 3-way adjustable weighting on the sole, the “stock” Lightning fairway woods can be easily configured to a lite option by using lighter adjustable weights.

Now as someone who has had the chance to get fit for these new fairway woods, let me be one of the first to say, do NOT sleep on the Lightning 9-wood.

As for the hybrids, they incorporate all the same technology and 3-way weighting as the core Lightning fairway woods and go all the way from a 2i all the way down to a 34° 8-iron hybrid for those who need maximum launch at the lower end of the bag.

The full Lightning line is now available at PXG.com with pricing starting at $649.