Tiger Woods Bay Hill 3rd Round
Tiger Woods has won the Masters three times. Reuters

In his first tournament since reclaiming the world’s top ranking that eluded him for over two years, Tiger Woods is the favorite to end another long drought at the 2013 Masters Tournament at Augusta.

Woods hasn’t won a major since 2008, and last won the Masters in 2005. But his three victories this season, including a blistering performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, vaulted him past rival Rory McIlroy, and turned him into an overwhelming 3-to-1 favorite in the year’s first major tournament.

McIlroy took nearly three weeks off to prepare for the Masters, and he and fan favorite Phil Mickelson are just behind Woods at 10-to-1 odds.

The 23-year-old Northern Ireland native is currently in the second round of the Valero Texas Open, after just making par in the first round with four bogeys balanced by four birdies.

Mickelson missed the cut after the second round of the Arnold Palmer in March with three double bogeys. He followed up that poor performance with a 16th place finish at the Shell Houston Open.

Still Mickelson has had far more recent success than Woods at Augusta, capturing the 2010 tournament.

Defending champion Bubba Watson sits at 35-to-1, with no victories this year, but two top 10 finishes. A full list of the odds can be viewed here.

ESPN will broadcast the first two rounds of the tournament beginning on Thursday April 11 from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the same schedule that Friday for the second round.

CBS will cover the third and the final rounds on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. The full schedule of events can be found at Masters.com.

The network’s Web site, CBSSports.com, will have a live online stream beginning on Monday April 8 for the practice rounds, and will fill in any other time gaps throughout the tournament for more than 90 hours of coverage. There will also be three days of practice rounds, with the Par 3 contest on Wednesday.

Rory mcilroy