Tiger Woods Return No Help for Golf Stocks

Updated from 2:56 p.m. EST

Tiger Woods, who hasn't played tournament golf since his dramatic U.S. Open win last June, said Thursday he would return to the links next week to tee it up in the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Woods has been sidelined since he won his 14th major at Torrey Pines. Just days after the tense playoff victory over Rocco Mediate, the world's top golfer announced he would undergo season-ending knee surgery. As a result, he missed the year's final two majors, the Open Championship and the PGA, along with the Ryder Cup.

"I'm now ready to play again," Woods said in a statement on his Web site.

This particular tournament has been good to Woods, who is the defending champion of the event and who also took home the trophy in 2003 and 2004.

To say that news of Woods' return is a positive for the PGA Tour, its sponsors and its fans is an understatement. Since his first major win at the 1997 Masters, Woods has been equated with the game. But even though he may be a magician on the golf course, he's not yet enough of a force to pick up a stock market suffering through a deep recession.

On a day the major averages traded to the downside, most golf-related stocks were also in the red. However, Nike (NKE Quote), the maker of Woods' equipment, was up 0.3% at $42.93.

Callaway Golf (ELY Quote) lost 3.7% to $6.84, and Fortune Brands (FO Quote), the seller of Titleist and Footjoy, fell 3.6% to $27.48.