PXG Lightning Tour 3-Wood Review

The PXG Lightning Tour 3-Wood is a compact, low-spin 3-wood for strong players who want speed and control. It pairs a thinner, faster face with a full carbon crown and a spined sole with adjustable weights. Off the tee I got a high, penetrating flight with plenty of roll, and it was more forgiving than I expected.

Our best fairway woods guide names it the Best Fairway Wood for Low Handicappers. I was fit for it at a PXG outdoor fitting, played it for five rounds on the course and tested it in the IGR Office simulator by Carl’s Place. My numbers came from a FlightScope Mevo+ Pro launch monitor.

Where the speed comes from

The only way to create more distance is to create more speed, and that means swinging the club faster and turning it into ball speed. PXG built the Lightning wood line around both. The edges of the face are 12.5% thinner than on PXG’s Black Ops fairways, so it flexes more at impact, and a full carbon crown saves weight that can move lower in the head.

The spined sole puts the weights right down the target line, so the power goes into the ball. On the Tour the thinner face and carbon crown made the ball come off the face fast.

Off the tee and from the fairway

I was impressed by how easy the Tour is to hit off the tee. I had some monster tee shots because of its high, penetrating flight, long carry and good roll-out. The adjustable weights sit on the spine, and I kept the heavy weight forward, which is stock, for the lowest spin and launch. I still found plenty of height.

The Tour head is more compact than the standard Lightning (180cc against 200cc), and it looks near perfect at address. I liked that it is a true 15° head, so there is no jacked-up loft, just speed and power from a real 3-wood.

Fitting, accuracy and forgiveness

PXG has always promoted fitting, and this club shows why. I went to a PXG outdoor fitting at Omni National Golf Course in Tucson, AZ, and I’m a fan of outdoor fittings because you hit off real turf with real down-range visuals. I hit numerous shafts and settled on an upgrade shaft and a stock shaft that got very similar results and differed only in feel.

When the club arrived a few days later, I hit it even better on the course than I did at the range. My accuracy went up considerably once I was aiming at a fairway or green instead of a wide-open range. It was surprisingly forgiving too, with high ball speeds and good accuracy on off-center hits, and I felt in control of every shot.

Launch, spin and distance

The numbers match what I saw on the course: a lower-spin, mid-launch flight that ran out about 8 yards after landing and stayed in a tight window from side to side. Even a less-than-perfect swing got the ball to the green in two on a par 5.

Should you buy it?

Buy the PXG Lightning Tour 3-Wood if you hit the center most of the time, if your 3-wood climbs and spins too much, or if you hit 3-wood off the tee on tight holes. It is a fast, accurate and surprisingly forgiving club in the right hands, and it is worth getting fit for.

Skip it if you need help getting the ball up from the fairway, because the guide points those golfers to the TaylorMade Qi4D, which launches more easily and forgives more. If you want a bigger, more stable head for the tee, the guide suggests the Titleist GTS2. The Tour also needs speed to get the most from it, and it comes only as a 15° 3-wood and an 18° 5-wood. Its driver sibling is the Lightning Tour driver.

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