Top 20 players to watch in 2012: No. 9 Scott Parel

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Scott Parel may be 46 on his birth certificate but he doesn't feel that old.

"I don't feel like I'm golfed out at all," said Parel, who will make a return to the Nationwide Tour in 2012. "I've played at this level for six years off and on and while obviously there's more pressure it's all relative but I'm really excited about this coming year."

Parel says that his near miss at the Final Stage of PGA TOUR Qualifying School will give him confidence heading into 2012. He wound up missing his PGA TOUR card by one stroke and afterward felt disappointed more for his family than for himself.

After a few days of coming up short at q-school, he started looking ahead and what was in store for him this year on the Nationwide Tour.

Parel is no stranger to the Nationwide Tour having played in 134 tournaments with eight top-10s and 55 cuts made.

He got a late start in pro golf at age 32 and has been around the fringes ever since.

"I joke with my wife that the three-year plan is going on about year 15 or 16," Parel said.

Parel will get another chance with a full season on the Nationwide Tour thanks to his finish at q-school. He played in just four Nationwide Tour events last season and failed to make a cut.

Last season Parel, an Augusta, Ga. native who graduated from Georgia in 1986, but didn't play on the golf team, played mostly on the eGolf Tour and Hooters Tour and said he had his lowest stroke average of his career at just 69.9.

"I'm really going to feel pretty comfortable out there," he said about the Nationwide Tour. "I know the golf courses for the most part and I'll have confidence from playing well at q-school. I feel like my game is definitely going in the right direction."

Take a closer look at Parel's stats from the 2011 Nationwide Tour season. In 2011, he did not meet the minimum number of rounds required to be officially ranked.