Aaron Cockerill (born 17 April 1992) is a Canadian

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

and

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fif ...

player. He was runner-up at the 2022

Magical Kenya Open The Kenya Open, titled as the Magical Kenya Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament in Kenya founded in 1967. History The Kenya Open was an associate event on the Far East Circuit in 1967 and 1968, after which it became ...

, as well as the 2023

ISPS Handa Championship in Japan The ISPS Handa Championship in Japan is a professional golf tournament held at PGM Ishioka Golf Club in Omitama, Japan. The tournament was created in 2022, originally intended to be a co-sanctioned European Tour and Japan Golf Tour event. It wa ...

, losing in a playoff to Lucas Herbert.

Amateur career

Cockerill played golf at Stonewall Collegiate High School, where he was a four-time zone champion and served as team captain for three years. He played three years on the Team Manitoba province squad. Cockerill had a successful year in 2010, winning the Manitoba Junior Men's Championship and finished 10th at the

Canadian Amateur Championship The Canadian Amateur Championship, begun in 1895, is the men's amateur golf championship of Canada. It is staged annually by Golf Canada. It was played at match play until 1968, went to stroke play beginning in 1969, and reverted to match play in ...

. He also won the Golf Canada Western Future Links Championship and was the medalist at the Manitoba Match Play Championship. He was the low individual at the Provincial Junior Interclub, helping Teulon capture the rural division. He also finished second at the Rural Junior Championship, and received the Manitoba Amateur Golfer of the Year Award. In 2010, Cockerill enrolled at

Texas A&M University–Commerce Texas A&M University–Commerce is a public university in Commerce, Texas. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in the Texas A&M University System. Founded in 1889, the inst ...

and played with the Texas A&M–Commerce Lions golf team. He led the team in scoring average, and was a business administration major. In 2011, he transferred to

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The University ...

, where he played with the

Idaho Vandals The Idaho Vandals are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of Idaho, located in Moscow. The Vandals compete at the NCAA Division I level as a member of the Big Sky Conference. The football team was an independent for t ...

golf team and earned first-team all-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to most of ...

honors as a senior and graduated in 2014.

Professional career

Cockerill turned professional in 2015, and played on the

PGA Tour Canada PGA Tour Canada, commonly referred to as the Canadian Tour, is a men's professional golf tour headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The United States based PGA Tour took over operation of the tour on November 1, 2012, at which time it was renamed PG ...

between 2016 and 2018 with limited success. In 2019, he joined the

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History ...

, where he recorded back-to-back top-10 finishes at the

Hopps Open de Provence The Hopps Open de Provence is a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour. It was first played in September 2018 at Golf International de Pont Royal in Mallemort, Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rh� ...

Lalla Aïcha Challenge Tour The Lalla Aïcha Challenge Tour is a golf tournament on the Challenge Tour. It was first played in October 2019 at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, Rabat, Morocco. It was the first Challenge Tour event to be played in Morocco since the 2010 Moroccan Golf C ...

, and Stone Irish Challenge to finish 49th in the season rankings. Cockerill tied for 5th at

Q-school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of th ...

and joined the

2020 European Tour The 2020 European Tour was the 49th season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972 and the 12th edition of the Race to Dubai. The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the season, with many tournaments being resc ...

. In his rookies season he opened with a 64 and 68 at the

Joburg Open The Joburg Open is a men's professional golf tournament that is held in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is an event on the Southern Africa-based Sunshine Tour and co-sanctioned by the European Tour, which attracts a larger prize fund and stronger ...

to set the early clubhouse target, and finished the tournament tied for 4th. In 2022, he was runner-up at the

. Cockerill was again in contention at the

ISPS Handa Championship in Spain The ISPS Handa Championship in Spain was a professional golf tournament that was held 21–24 April 2022 at Infinitum Golf in Tarragona, Spain. The tournament was created as a one-off event after the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan was remov ...

, where he shot a 62 and set the clubhouse target on a weather-affected day three. He finished the tournament tied for third, two strokes behind winner

Pablo Larrazábal Pablo Larrazábal Corominas (born 15 May 1983) is a Spanish professional golfer currently playing on the European Tour. He also played in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event at the Centurion Club. Early life Larrazábal was born in ...

. Cockerill made a hole-in-one on the opening day of the 2022

Omega European Masters The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with ...

, to collect a life insurance policy. He made a second one in the space of a week when making an ace on the 16th hole at

Made in HimmerLand The Made in Denmark is a professional golf tournament on the European Tour that is played annually in Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg ...

. With all the hole-in-one chatter in the recording area he forgot to sign his scorecard, and got disqualified. Cockerill started the 2023 season with a tie for 4th at the

Alfred Dunhill Championship The Alfred Dunhill Championship is a men's professional golf tournament which is played in South Africa. It is part of the Southern African Sunshine Tour and is one of several events in South Africa that are co-sanctioned by the more prestigious ...

Amateur wins

*2010 Manitoba Junior Men's Championship, Western Future Links Championship

Playoff record

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

References

External links