Cockerill’s already successful year keeps getting better

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This article was published 29/03/2023 (923 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Life is pretty rich these days for Aaron Cockerill.

Manitoba’s top pro golfer and his wife, Chelsea, are proud new parents, having welcomed daughter Addison Kate into the world on Feb. 1.

He’s continuing to make waves across the pond on the DP World Tour, fresh off a 13th place finish last weekend in South Africa. He finished the event at 16-under par following rounds of 66-69-72-65, continuing his solid start to the 2022-23 campaign which includes a fourth-place finish at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in December.

Now, the product of Stony Mountain has a lucrative new sponsorship deal to help boost his fortunes. Richardson Wealth has signed on as of this week, with their logo appearing on his tour bag.

“We are thrilled to support Aaron Cockerill and we absolutely love his story of chasing a dream, working hard and preparing yourself to compete on the world stage,” Mike Ankers, Richardson’s head of advisor experience and growth, said in a statement Wednesday

Cockerill, 30, who is back in Manitoba for a few weeks of quality family time, will debut his new branding at the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan from April 20-23.

“Richardson Wealth has incredible roots in Manitoba and I’m so proud to be carrying a bag with their logo on it,” he said. “Playing professional golf at this level is impossible without fantastic partners and I’m very honoured to add (the company) as one of mine.”

After playing last season with just conditional status, Cockerill earned his full-time DP World Tour card by finishing 107th on the 2021-22 DP rankings. The top 117 qualified.

That allows Cockerill to map out his playing schedule well in advance, knowing he can get in tournaments of his choosing, rather than essentially being on standby. A great professional perk to have when you’re juggling the big changes back home in your personal life.

Cockerill also has some financial flexibility after making approximately CDN$450,000 last year. That’s quite something for the two-time Manitoba golfer of the year, who earned just CDN$37,000 total in 37 MacKenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada tournaments while grinding it out north of the border between 2015 and 2018.

He also earned a sponsor’s exemption into the Canadian Open in June and made the cut in his PGA Tour debut, then followed that up by cashing cheques in two subsequent appearances on the biggest stage in golf (The Barbasol Championship and Barracuda Championship). He ultimately made just over CDN$60,000 in those three events, while also proving to himself he could compete at the highest level.

Despite taking the month of February off, Cockerill is 97th on the current DP tour rankings. He’s played in eight events so far this season, making the cut in four of them and earning approximately CDN$145,000. He’s moved up to 373rd in the World Golf Rankings after beginning the year at No. 399.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg