Cockerill continues to improve in Europe
Published
One of the first things a reporter needs to do when trying to line up an interview with Aaron Cockerill is figure out which time zone he’s in. On any given week, the globe-trotting DP World Tour golfer might be in Asia, Africa, Australia or Europe.
For now, however, the 30-year-old is at his home in Winnipeg, taking a short break before he heads to South Africa for a few events that can give him a head start on the 2023 season.
“I don't even want to know,” said Cockerill when asked if he knew how many kilometres he travelled on the 2022 campaign. “I mean, we go everywhere right? I'll be happy to put the sticks away for a few weeks here.”
The break is well earned. Cockerill enjoyed his best season in Europe, starting the year with limited status and finishing 107th on the points list. That will give him full status on the circuit and entry into the top events for the first time in his career.
It’s the continuation of a steady improvement in his career, one that has seen him climb from amateur golf to the top ranks in the professional game.
“I've honestly done that my whole career, whether it was from a mini tour to the Canadian Tour to the Challenge Tour and now the European tour,” he said. “It's been probably slower than I would have liked, but it's also just kind of part of the deal It’s a difficult game and you have to earn your spot.”
His coach, Derek Ingram, a fellow Manitoban who serves as the head coach of Team Canada while also working with Corey Conners, described Cockerill as very smart player who doesn’t often beat himself.
“He drives it straight, hits a lot of greens and is an exceptional putter,” said Ingram. “We’re working on getting him a little bit longer, adding some speed. He’s still new out there so I think getting comfortable only helps.”
The past season was certainly an eventful one in many ways. Cockerill got off to a fast start with a second at an event in Kenya and a third in Spain. Coupled with a few other solid finishes, he appeared to have full status for 2023 locked up. He therefore had no difficulty accepting an exemption into the RBC Canadian Open, the first time he’d played his national championship. It was something he called the highlight of his year.
But as the schedule neared an end, Cockerill’s status was not so solid. As such, he elected to play the Mallorca Golf Open to gain a few more points. His clubs, however, weren’t as interested.
When he arrived at the island in the Mediterranean, his clubs weren’t there; a tracking device in his golf bag showed they were still in Toronto, his point of departure. The next day, it showed they had made it to Madrid, so Cockerill’s wife, Chelsea, jumped on a plane back to Madrid, grabbed the clubs and returned late on Wednesday, just in time for her husband to get in a late range session and then play four solid rounds for a tie for 58th.
“With the pressures of the week, just making the cut was a success,” said Cockerill. “Stressful times for a golfer.”
He teed it up the next week in Portugal, finishing tied for 27th and ensured his full status for next season.
There were other eventful moments during Cockerill’s year. He made two holes-in-one in a seven-day span. The first, which came in Switzerland, earned him $40,000 in life insurance from a tournament sponsor.
He wasn’t aware of that unusual prize and, a second after the ball disappeared in the hole, yelled out, “Where’s the f---ing car?” (which the television cameras picked up), thinking that might be the reward. He ended up taking a cash buyout instead of the life insurance.
The next one, in Denmark, ended up costing him money. He aced his third-last hole of the day, followed that with a quadruple bogey eight and finished up with a bogey. When he got into the scoring tent, there was such much excitement about the ace and the unusual finish, he forgot to sign his scorecard, leading to a disqualification.
“At the end of the day, it's my fault,” admitted Cockerill. “I should have signed it but it's also kind of a silly rule, right? If the Jets and the Leafs play does (Blake) Wheeler have to go over and sign the score sheet?”
Next year will be different for reasons beyond just being able to pick his full schedule. The Cockerills will welcome a daughter in February, their first child, and that will impact the travel significantly. They’ve already worked out a schedule to test how their new daughter will handle the long trips but for the first stretch of the year, he’ll be travelling solo and video chatting home a lot.
That distance raises the question of whether he’d prefer to try and play the PGA Tour, where the travel isn’t as onerous. But to do that, he’d likely have to take a step back and work his way up through the Korn Ferry Tour.
That aside, he’s also enjoying his time travelling the world.
“I'm pretty happy with where I am honestly,” he said. “I’m from hick-town, small-town Manitoba. I never, ever imagined that we'd be going to these countries and seeing some of these things and playing the Old Course and stuff like that. It's just it's been so fun.”
The goal, of course, is to continue to improve and get a win but the journey has been exceptional, no matter which time zone he’s in.