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Golf Monthly
Golf Monthly
Sport
Joel Tadman

How PXG Hopes To Bring Lightning-Fast Speed To Its Metalwoods In 2026

How PXG Hopes To Bring Lightning-Fast Speed To Its Metalwoods In 2026.

Fresh off the success of its Black Ops family of drivers, fairways and hybrids, a new kind of electrical storm is coming from PXG. The new Lightning family of metalwoods is built on a foundation of speed thanks to various innovations with PXG’s full fitting armoury also at the golfer’s disposal to maximise performance at the top end of the bag.

The Lightning drivers introduce a new Frequency Tuned Face technology. This design works by matching the face's natural vibration frequency with the ball's compression at impact, resulting in a more efficient transfer of energy for faster ball speed. This is supported by a Spined Sole Design that stiffens the sole and a weight structure that uses thin-wall carbon fibre for stiffness without added mass.

(Image credit: Future)

The line includes four models: Lightning Tour, Lightning Tour Mid, Lightning Max-10k+, and Lightning Max Lite, giving players of all swing speeds and shape preferences an option to be fit for.

Forgiveness has been enhanced by incorporating more carbon fibre in the sole area - up to 84% more in the Max-10K+ compared to the previous model. The back weight has been positioned further from the center of gravity, increasing the Moment of Inertia (MOI), with the Max-10K+ achieving a combined MOI reading well over the 10,000 threshold.

(Image credit: Future)

In terms of adjustability, the PXG Lightning Tour Mid and Lightning Max 10K+ Drivers boast three weight locations with standard offerings set to include two lighter 2.5g weights and one heavy 15g weight. The Lightning Tour model also presents three weight locations with two 7.5g weights and a lighter 2.5g weight as standard. Additional weights are available in 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5, and 20-gram options, so overall head weight and shot bias can be easily fine-tuned for each player.

The PXG Lightning fairway wood and hybrid share a similar approach to speed. Both feature a thinner face design - the fairway wood perimeter is 12.5% thinner, and the hybrid face insert is 6% thinner than the previous Black Ops models. This allows for greater face flex, resulting in faster ball speeds and increased carry distance. Forgiveness is achieved through a high MOI design, utilising a squared face profile with perimeter weighting that pushes mass to the extreme edges of the sole to maintain a low CG.

(Image credit: Future)

The fairway woods come in two distinct profiles: the new compact Lightning Tour fairway wood with a taller, more rounded face, and the standard Lightning with a larger, squared-off face. Both club types retain the PXG adjustability system for dialling in trajectory and directional preference, with a huge array of loft options giving fitters ample choices to fulfil gapping issues.

Lofts will be offered up to a 27° 11-wood in the fairways and a 34° 8-hybrid in the hybrids, providing even more fitting options for the top and middle of the bag.

What PXG says

“We set some high-level goals on the table for our engineers when setting out to create Lightning and more ball speed was high on that list. Making a club faster is a big challenge with the various USGA conforming rules we have to work under, but our Frequency Tuned Face is the concept we’ve come up with to create a more efficient structure that is quicker than our last product while maintaining the forgiveness levels. The gains are real, measurable, and available across every model.”

Pricing & Availability

The PXG Lightning metalwoods are on sale now with the following RRPs: driver $649/£569, fairway wood $379/£319, hybrid $329/£269.

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