Cadillac Championship 2012: Tiger Woods and Trailing Stars Who Will Make a Run

With all the talk of a rivalry between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, and how Tiger had turned the corner, the Cadillac Championship got off to somewhat of an anonymous start.

Jason Dufner and Adam Scott lead at six-under par, but rarely does a golfer go wire to wire, so there is sure to be some movement in the coming days.

A number of top players are lying in the weeds currently as they sit four or more shots back.

That certainly isn't an insurmountable deficit, especially with three rounds left to play. Some stars will rise, while others will inevitably falter, but the leaderboard is bound to look much different come Sunday.

Here are three trailing stars who will make a run at the leaders by tournament's end.

Tiger Woods

After his sparking Sunday round in the Honda Classic, Woods was unspectacular in the opening round of the Cadillac Championship.

He shot an even-par 72 and currently sits six strokes behind the leaders. Tiger's putter failed him a couple times on Thursday, which could be viewed as a bad sign after he putted so well on Sunday.

He continues to hit the ball long and straight off the tee, though, and his approach shots have been good for the most part as well.

Essentially every part of Tiger's game has been as good as we've grown accustomed to seeing, with the exception of his putting.

He started to figure it out in the big moments last week, and I'm banking on him to do the same in the Cadillac Championship.

Woods has shown all the elements in recent tournaments, so now he just has to put them all together, and I believe he will this weekend.

Hunter Mahan

Despite his status as the No. 10 player in the world, rising star Hunter Mahan hasn't been receiving a lot of attention lately.

He won the Accenture Match Play tournament a couple weeks ago, beating the darling of the golf world, Rory McIlroy, in the process.

Although he is only 29 years old, Mahan is beginning to reach "best player who hasn't won a major" status.

He figures to be a contender in the Masters, though, and it starts with a good performance in the Cadillac Championship.

Mahan has played an excellent all-around game as of late and he seems to be in the mix in almost every tournament he plays in.

He started the Cadillac Championship off in solid fashion with a first-round, one-under 71, which puts him five strokes back.

Mahan has made a habit of continually hanging around late in tournaments, so he'll have something to say about how things play out on Sunday.

Luke Donald

After Rory McIlroy's victory at the Honda Classic, he vaulted himself into first place in the world golf rankings.

The man who he surpassed was Luke Donald, who is now the No. 2 player on tour.

There are few players in the world who are more consistent than Donald as he is a major contender every time he steps foot on a golf course.

That is true once again this week as he trails by four shots at two-under par.

The 34-year-old Brit is among the top players on both the PGA and European Tours, and while he hasn't been at his best recently, he'll certainly be hanging around during the final three days of the tournament.

When majors like the Masters are upcoming, the top players find a way to round their games into form.

That figures to be the case with Donald in the Cadillac Championship.