Should I use a 7-wood? And what are the three best 7-woods on the market?

Matt Cooper 28 Jun 2025

Fairway woods have been a staple of the golf bag for years.

Want a safe option from the tee? Take a 3-wood.

Want length and accuracy from the fairway? Turn to your trusty 5-wood.

Nowadays the 7-wood is fashionable adding the extra security and playability from closer to the green.

Let’s take a look at what all the fuss is about.

Okay, so is this about hackers or do the pros use them?

Vijay Singh was an early fan but back in the day when he was an outlier. More recently Xander Schauffele has used one, and Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Dustin Johnson have, too. Even youngsters like Ludvig Aberg and Joaquin Niemann are fans.

Is it a bit of a (legal) cheat?

Depends. If you measure your game by the score on your card then, no, it’s not. Vijay Singh was the ultimate believer in doing whatever it took to score low.

Purists – and that includes a good friend of mine – turn their nose up at the 7-wood. But he’d rather huff and puff about his rotten score while thrashing away with equipment (e.g. blades) that his game can’t cope with.

What’s the big deal about the 7-wood?

It’s really no different to other fairway woods. The 7-wood gives you forgiveness and ease of hitting. It also gets the ball in the air for the average golfer.

There will be some who are a little confused, thinking hybrids were supposed to be the easy alterative to the long or mid-iron. In truth it’s all about what suits your game but also about what you want – for many a 7-wood offers the distance of a 5-iron but a different ball flight, one that is higher so ideal for holding greens.

So what about the best options?

The Ping G430 Max is hard to beat.

It’s incredibly easy to hit and will have you landing more greens than ever.

It has a wide and also shallow head which means it is not only easy to hit from good lies, but also excellent at cutting through rough.

It retails at £299.

What’s a good option for the average golfer?

Take a look at the Cobra Darkspeed Max 7-Wood (£249) which is an exceptional option for slower swingers of the club.

Those slow swings create high ball speed and it’s got a club face that picks up the ball nicely. You’ll also get great height from this club.

If you’re a faster swinger and slightly better golfer maybe stick with Cobra and go for the Darkspeed X 7-Wood (£269).

What about a cheaper option?

You can get a Titleist TSR2 7-Wood for £229 and it offers what you’d expect from Titleist – this is a deliverer of arrow straight blows.

There is a caveat, however.

This club produces low launch and landing angle. It also suits a fast swing speed.

So we’re probably talking better golfers. The average golfer needs to pay a little more to feel the benefit.