The Market Has Known That Tiger Woods and Golf Are Back

As far as the stock market is concerned, there is little doubt that the immense popularity of Tiger Woods (not pictured above, by the way) is pivotal regarding fringe golf fans who go long periods of time when Tiger is not relevant without consuming any golf content nor purchasing any golf-related products (let alone actually playing the game). 

Callaway Golf (ELY) is the best publicly-traded way to gauge the above analysis, as the first chart, below, of the monthly timeframe shows the last two years have correlated smartly with the resurgence of Woods on the golf scene after he had an embarrassing string of mostly self-inflicted personal episodes in the years before, not to mention chronic injuries which limited his performance on the links. 

But with Tiger back and threatening to win a major tournament soon, facing stiff competition from young, wildly athletic and talented peers, golf is seeing renewed interest across the board from those who ignored it during the rocky few years for Woods. 

Hence, the ELY chart makes even more sense on the monthly. 

Of course, the sector strength in consumer discretionary and retail stocks is also a likely explanation, as the second daily chart shows a tight bull flag for ELY. 

But putting the Topgolf angle to one side, the actual sport of pure golf is on the comeback trail. Tiger's popularity is on par with Michael Jordan's in basketball when it comes to bringing in new blood to the game of golf, and that can only help a name like ELY.

I expect the $27 highs from 2001 (when Tiger won The Masters) to eventually be tested before we see if a run to new highs is in the cards.