Two lofts, two weight ports and a familiar name suggest PXG’s next high-MOI driver isn’t far off.
Last week, while we were off, a new PXG driver landed on the USGA conforming list. It’s called the Raptor X10K+, and if you’ve followed PXG over the last couple of years, at least half of that name should sound familiar. The listing is light on detail (they always are), but it’s enough to tell us PXG has no intention of sitting this one out.
We’re well into October, which means it’s about that time when new drivers start showing up on the list. Granted, the industry has done a better job of holding its secrets well into January, but if you want tour players gaming forthcoming stuff in live-fire events, it has to be listed. That’s the trade.
A quieter season (mostly)
With many manufacturers moving to extended cycles, we expect a quieter-than-usual release season. Callaway and COBRA are expected to launch full lineups. If PING follows its typical cadence, expect three new drivers from Phoenix. GTS1 is likely coming from Titleist, and TaylorMade says it’s sticking with Qi4D.
That brings us to PXG.
The current Lightning franchise is the company’s best to date, but the Raptor X10K+ (and this week’s media event) suggest PXG isn’t quite ready to join the extended-cycle crowd.
What the USGA listing tells us
The X10K+ is listed in two lofts (9 and 10.5 degrees) and has two weight ports, one in the heel and one in the back.
That’s less a tech story than a fitting story. Put the heavy weight in the back and you’ve got your max-MOI setup. Shift it to the heel and you’ve got a draw-biased option for those who can’t quite stop the ball from going right. It’s not revolutionary, but it covers the two things most golfers shopping in this category actually need.
Worth a mention: the current Lightning Max-10K+ has three weight ports. Assuming the USGA listing tells the whole story, PXG appears to have dropped one. Simplification or something more interesting? That’s a question for launch day.
What’s in a name?
The name is doing most of the heavy lifting here. X10K+ suggests a high-MOI model offering 10K plus some amount more worth of MOI. If that sounds familiar, it’s because PXG already sells a Lightning Max-10K+. So, yeah, the plus is already doing a lot of work, and how much more “plus” we’re getting this time around is anybody’s guess.
PXG’s high-MOI track record
The typical knock on 10K drivers is that all that stability comes with extra spin. To its credit, PXG has generally done a good job of keeping spin down in its high-MOI models.
To be clear, you still pay some of the speed tax that comes with extreme MOI. Nothing is free. That said, for golfers who use all of the face (no judgment), PXG’s offerings in the category have been consistently compelling. I’d expect the Raptor X10K+ to pick up where the Lightning version left off.
Only one (for now)
The X10K+ is the only Raptor on the USGA list at the moment, but history suggests at least two more are coming. Lightning launched with four heads.
And we’ve already seen another one. Earlier this month at the Bank of Utah Championship, Raptor drivers were spotted in the bags of PXG staffers Aldrich Potgieter and Eric Cole. Potgieter’s was labeled XLS, which, by conventional naming logic, should mean extra low spin. It hasn’t turned up on the list (yet), but it’s reasonable to assume it will.
For what it’s worth, the timing tracks with last year. Lightning hit the conforming list in September.
Pricing and availability
In the current market, price is anybody’s guess. Mine is $650 at launch. For context, the Lightning Max-10K+ sells for $649, so I’m betting on flat pricing (give or take a dollar).
PXG hasn’t announced pricing or availability, so we’ll pass along more information as it becomes available.
Have your say
In recent years, PXG has challenged golfers to go head-to-head with their current driver against PXG’s latest. Beat it and there’s cash in it for you (most recently, a $500 Mastercard Reward Card during the Black Ops Driver Challenge). With that in mind, how likely are you to give the new PXG drivers a try when they arrive? Let us know.
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