What to watch for with Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods will play in the Masters this year.

“I'll be there. Don't worry about it,” he said during a “Good Morning America” appearance last week. So if he is at Augusta, what should we expect?

In the 37 tournaments he's played since his “comeback” began, Woods has 14 top-four finishes. Two of those have been at the Masters. First we checked out his overall numbers at the Masters:

- First round jitters: Woods averages a 72.17 in the first round at the Masters. It's the highest average of any of his four rounds there.

Round 2 – 70.35

Round 3 – 69.8

Round 4 – 70.56

- Close but no cigar: The 277 Woods posted in 2010 and the 278 he posted in 2011 aren't far off from the 276 Woods won the 2002 and 2005 Masters with (2005 required a playoff, though). He's had nine totals above 278 in 16 Masters finishes (he didn't make the cut after the second round in 1996).

- The low down: Woods finished with an 11-under par in 2010 and 10-under in 2011. He's only posted four lower numbers, and he won a championship each of those times.

But let's get a little more specific and try to spot the differences between his championship rounds in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005 and his two post-comeback appearances in 2010 and 2011:

- Ballooning bogeys: During the first three of Woods' four Masters championships, he never bogeyed more than eight total holes (he had seven in 1997). He had 12 bogeys in 2005, but made up for it with 24 birdies on his way to a playoff win. Woods had 14 bogeys in 2010 and he bogeyed 11 holes in 2011.

Through the first two rounds of the Masters we've looked at, Woods has been fairly consistent, even after his comeback. During his four championships he had five, four, four and six bogeys, respectively, in the first two rounds. He had had four in 2010 and five in 2011. But that consistency goes out the window when we look at the last two rounds. During his championship years, Woods had two bogeys in 1997, four in 2001 and four in 2002. He had six in 2005, but also had an astounding 14 birdies in rounds three and four. In 2010 be bogeyed 10 holes and in 2011 he bogeyed six, while only producing six birdies and one eagle.

- The third man: Woods has never shot higher than a 68 in the third round during any of his championships at Augusta. He shot a 70 in 2010 and a 74 in 2011.

- Trouble holes: (1) Round three, hole seven: Woods birdied this hole throughout his four championships. He bogeyed it in 2010 and shot par in 2011. (2) Round three, hole 11: Woods birdied this hole throughout his four championships. He shot par in 2010 and bogeyed it in 2011. (3) Round four, hole four: Woods shot par here during each of his four championships. He bogeyed it in 2010 and 2011.

"The Numbers Game" is a Newsday app-only exclusive.