Baseball opening, college basketball championship to compete with the Masters

Baseball’s opening day and the NCAA men’s basketball championship game have competed for viewers on the first Monday in April many times.

But this Monday both will have to step back for Tiger Woods and the Masters.

The four-time winner of golf’s most elite event has not played since Nov. 15 as he dealt with a painful and embarrassing personal scandal. His return to competitive golf begins with his approach to the microphones for a news conference at 11 a.m. that will be carried live by the Golf Channel, ESPN News, ESPN.com and other outlets. Woods then is scheduled to play a practice round at Augusta National with Fred Couples.

In the meantime, ESPN, ESPN2, the MLB Network and Fox Sports will televise several baseball games, including the Dodgers opener in Pittsburgh at 10:30 a.m. on Prime, and the Angels season debut against the Minnesota Twins at 7 p.m. on FS West and ESPN2.

CBS, of course, will conclude the men’s NCAA Division I tournament with its broadcast of the Final Four championship game from Indianapolis between Saturday’s semifinal winners, beginning at 6 p.m. on Channel 2.

In a conference call with reporters Thursday to discuss the upcoming baseball season, Ed Goren, president and executive producer of Fox Sports, was asked about the media covering Woods at the Masters.

“It’s a delicate balance. You’re there as a reporter to report,” he said. “You’re not a commentator; you don’t have a pregame show. It’s not ‘ 60 Minutes.’ You’re there to cover an event and anything that is going on.

“You can’t dwell [on him] because you have a golf tournament to cover.”

The tee times for the Masters will be announced Tuesday, and ESPN, which is scheduled to televise the first two rounds Thursday and Friday, will break into its regular programming early if Woods should tee off before the network begins its coverage at 12:30 p.m.

Fox will begin its 15th consecutive season of covering major league baseball starting next Saturday, April 10, with three regional games, including the New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays, with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver calling the action on Channel 11.

Also scheduled this season are two games in prime time, the first on May 22 between either the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies or the Yankees against their subway rivals, the New York Mets. The second follows on June 26 when the Yankees play the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

Channel 11 will also televise the All-Star Game from Angel Stadium on July 13 and the World Series in October.

World Cup, 3D-style

DirectTV announced this week that it has added ESPN’s 3D channel to its programming lineup, starting on June 11 with the FIFA World Cup soccer match between the host-nation team South Africa and Mexico.

For the World Cup tournament, ESPN 3D plans to televise up to 25 matches. The network also will broadcast in 3D the X Games, Atlantic Coast Conference college football and the 2011 BCS championship game.

DirectTV reported that its HD customers will receive a software upgrade in June and that subscribers will need a 3D television set and glasses to view the programming. DirectTV HD subscribers who have ESPN will not be charged for ESPN 3D.

The best of the rest

On Friday, the slumping Lakers are at home against the Utah Jazz at 7:30 p.m. on FS West and ESPN. In exhibition baseball, the Dodgers have a freeway date in Anaheim with the Angels at 7 p.m. on Channel 13. The two teams play again Saturday at 1 on Channel 9.

CBS tips off college basketball’s Final Four doubleheader at 2:45 p.m. Saturday at Indianapolis. Hometown favorite Butler plays Michigan State in the first game and Duke meets West Virginia 30 minutes after the final buzzer of Game 1.

ESPN Sports Saturday, a two-hour block of programming on Channel 7, premieres with the “30 for 30” documentary “Guru of Go,” at 2 p.m. followed by “Winners Bracket” at 3. “Guru of Go” tells of the life and death of Loyola Marymount basketball star Hank Gathers, and “Winners Bracket” is a highlights-driven hour co-hosted by Michelle Beadle and former NFL All-Pro Marcellus Wiley.

On Sunday, NBC offers an early Easter morning “ NHL Game of the Week” at 9:30 when the Detroit Red Wings travel to Philadelphia to play the Flyers on Channel 4. The Lakers take the court at Staples Center for a matinee affair with the San Antonio Spurs at 12:30 on Channel 7.

In college basketball, the semifinals of the women’s Final Four begin at 4 p.m. on ESPN when Oklahoma plays Stanford. The second semifinal between Connecticut and Baylor begins at 6.

And, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox open the major league baseball season at Fenway Park at 5 p.m. on ESPN2, with Jon Miller, Joe Morgan and Orel Hershiser reporting.

john.scheibe@latimes.com