Let’s see, Tiger Woods tees it up at 10:45 on Thursday. By the time you turn on the tele at 4 p.m. for ESPN’s coverage, Woods will be beating balls on the Augusta National range, trying to correct whatever he doesn’t like during his round. And you’ll find out what those “problems” are in the highlights.

But that’s not to say there isn’t anything to watch live. By design, Thursday’s afternoon rounds are populated by Woods’ chief challengers: Phil Mickelson tees off at 1:41 p.m. He’s preceded by 2000 champion Vijay Singh at 1:30 p.m. and followed by Ernie Els at 1:52 p.m. Another formidable group that includes Retief Goosen and Adam Scott, tees off at 1:19 p.m.

On Friday, of course, the tee times are flipped, with Tiger hogging all the live airtime at 1:52 p.m., in the penultimate group. Woods is paired with defending U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera and Stuart Appleby, who was the 54-hole leader at the Masters last year.

Even though it won’t be on TV live, Woods’ first-round score will be key in his quest to win the year’s first major and his fifth green jacket. Tiger has played in 11 Masters as a professional and he’s NEVER broken 70 in the first round. But 70 is the magic number. The three times he did shoot 70 in the first round (1997, 2001 and 2002), he went on to win the tournament.

While the Masters has relaxed its previously draconian TV policies over the past decade, it still follows a less-is-more concept — to good effect. While weekday coverage has changed hands from USA to ESPN, the live coverage time slot from 4 to 7 p.m. remains the same (with replay from 8 to 11 p.m.). CBS takes over on the weekend, starting at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

But the truly revolutionary change this year, in terms of TV coverage, is the live airing of the Par-3 Contest on Wednesday. For millions of viewers who never stepped inside Augusta National’s gates, this will be their first glimpse at the fabulous 9-hole course. ESPN will have it on live from 3 to 5 p.m.