Top 20 players to watch in 2012: No. 16 Luke List

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Here's somebody with the perfect resume who will most likely break through this season on the Nationwide Tour.

Luke List is young, he turned 27 Jan. 14, and he has two years of experience on the Tour. Last year he was 38th on the money list at the end of the season and he also tied for 38th at the final stage of PGA TOUR Qualifying School.

List, who was runner up to Ryan Moore in the 2004 U.S. Amateur, graduated from Vanderbilt in 2007 and has gotten better each year he's been a pro.

He played eight times on the Nationwide Tour in 2009 but the last two seasons he played full-time. After an early-season skid last year, where he missed four cuts in a row, List rebounded nicely and wound up with two top 10s and nine top 25s. Late in the season he tied for sixth at the Soboba Classic, but then missed two cuts in a row, which hurt his chances of getting into the top 25.

He made a significant leap from 2010 where he was 78th on the money list. It's a good bet that he'll improve on his place on the money list in 2012.

List's best showing last season was a tie for second at the Fresh Express Classic at the TPC Stonbrae. Because of heavy fog that rolled in just outside of San Francisco the final round was cancelled and Daniel Chopra was the winner.

List has experience on the Nationwide Tour with 65 tournaments and he's made 33 cuts.

He should be one of the longest hitters on Tour in 2012 after ranking fifth in driving distance in 2011 at 314 yards. He'll need to be a little more accurate off the tee after ranking 113th on tour and his putting average, which ranked 79th, will also need to be better if he wants to make his move and be inside the top 25 on the money list at the end of 2012.

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Take a closer look at List's stats from the 2011 Nationwide Tour season.