NEW YORK (AP) – Tiger Woods' return to the golf course is a long-awaited boon to sponsors that stood by him and marketers who stand to get big exposure from the big Masters audience.

Woods dropped out of the golf world last fall after revelations of his infidelities made him a mainstay of lurid headlines and left his value as a pitchman in shambles.  Several of his sponsors, including accounting firm Accenture and telecommunications company AT&T, dropped him. But companies that banked more directly on his athletic prowess, such as Nike Inc. and Electronic Arts, stuck by him.

The payoff could be coming.

"He starts the journey back now,'' said Rick Burton, former chief marketing officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee and a sports marketing professor at Syracuse University. ``Instead of being tabloid fodder for his non-athletic activities, he goes back to what he started out to be, which was an athlete.''

Both Nike and Electronic Arts said in written statements Tuesday they look forward to seeing Woods return to golf. It's especially timely for EA, whose next edition of the video game "Tiger Woods PGA Tour'' is in testing and scheduled for release in June.

"Nike can probably imagine nothing better than Tiger coming back, withstanding the pressure of everyone watching him and winning,'' Burton said. "This is going to be a heavily photographed, heavily videotaped, heavily Youtubed appearance. Tiger's Nike hat, Nike shirt and Nike ball are all going to get a lot of visibility.''

Gillette, a unit of Procter & Gamble, said it has no immediate plans to change its advertising – which no longer features Woods.

Damon Jones, spokesman for Gillette, said there have not been any decisions made about what comes next with the company's advertising.

The Masters get the best TV ratings of any golf tournament and will likely be much more watched this year - maximizing the impact of his return.

The tournament itself has just three major corporate sponsors - IBM Corp., AT&T Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp., though tight control of the tournament keeps their logos all but absent from the course.

AT&T, a former sponsor of Woods himself, declined to comment and the others did not immediately respond to requests.