Masters TV Schedule 2012: Tiger Woods Ready To Assert Dominance Early

Anyone hoping to catch the Masters from first tee to final putt will have to get up at the crack o' dawn (i.e. 7:50 a.m. EDT) to see Craig Stadler swing first at Augusta National.

For the rest of the viewing public, the real intrigue at the first Major championship of the 2012 PGA Tour season will have to wait until 10:35 a.m. EDT, when Tiger Woods joins Miguel Angel Jimenez and Sang-Moon Bae at Tee No. 1.

Tiger will trail big names like Tom Watson, Adam Scott and 2011 Major winners Charl Schwartzel (Masters) and Keegan Bradley (PGA Champioship) on the course, but is scheduled to reach the clubhouse well before Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy do.

That cushion should allow Woods to secure his footing on the leaderboard ahead of his most dangerous competitors in pursuit of his first Major victory in nearly four years and his first Green Jacket since 2005.

Not that the time difference will necessarily be the difference, or even a difference on the final ledger. Woods' success or failure in Georgia will depend much more on his state of mind and physical health.

By all accounts, both seem to be well in order, which should have the rest of the field scared stiff (if it wasn't already). As Grantland's Bill Barnwell illustrates in his brilliant statistical breakdown of Tiger's career, Woods' numbers in 2012 would suggest that he's back to being the Tiger of old. His win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, in particular, stands out as his finest performance in an event in three years.

Or, in other words, since before Tiger's private life became fodder for public humiliation on that fateful night in November 2009.

Tiger's demeanor at Augusta so far, at press conferences and during practice rounds, would also suggest that his head is in the right place again, that he's found some semblance of peace amidst turbulence and turmoil, even if golf itself is still more of a grind than a game.

And if Tiger's head is right, he can focus properly.

And if Tiger can focus properly and he's as healthy as he says he is, he can and should continue to play winning golf on a course that he's dominated so many times before.

If that's the case then this thing will be over early, long before Phil and Rory tee off.

Perhaps, even before Craig Stadler takes his first swing through the fresh morning dew at Augusta.

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