‘Trying to have the best of both worlds'
Aaron Cockerill was looking to take another big step forward this season on the heels of a breakthrough performance last year.
But it's been anything but a walk in the park for Manitoba's top professional golfer, who has found himself battling an even tougher obstacle than sand traps, water hazards and tricky pin placements while competing on the DP World Tour.
'It was so painful,' Cockerill told the Free Press Monday of what doctors believe was a stubborn case of gout, which is a form of inflammatory arthritis that often radiates from the big toe on out.
Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Stony Mountain's Aaron Cockerill has jumped to 103rd in the current tour rankings.
'I would get this pain, and it would bounce around my feet. I literally couldn't walk at times.'
Cockerill, 33, finished a career-best 49th on the 2024 tour standings, with six top-20 showings and more than $1.4 million in earnings which made him this province's most accomplished golfer since Selkirk's Glen Hnatiuk was a PGA Tour regular more than two decades ago.
However, 2025 began with the Stony Mountain product missing seven of the first 13 cuts and not cracking the top-20 at any point.
'The start of the year, my play sucked,' Cockerill said during the phone chat from Amsterdam. 'I played a few tournaments just hobbling around, which I probably shouldn't have. I was struggling to practice properly in between, too.'
Cockerill said the cause of the medical issue is a bit of a mystery, since he hasn't had a sip of alcohol in more than six months and doesn't eat much red meat. Those are typically the two biggest contributors to gout.
The good news is the worst appears to be behind him. Cockerill, who has seen four different doctors and a rheumatologist, said the last few weeks have been incident-free as some prescribed medication appears to be helping. It's likely not a coincidence that he's now strung together two solid tournaments in a row.
'I'm just trying to make sure that I stay healthy and can do what I want in terms of prep and practice. Hopefully the results will start coming.'– Aaron Cockerill
Two weeks ago in Belgium, Cockerill started with a six-under 65 to sit among the early leaders, ultimately finishing the event tied for 31st. Last week in Austria, he strung together four straight rounds in the 60s to finish tied for 13th.
'To have a little bit of form here is nice. I'm just trying to make sure that I stay healthy and can do what I want in terms of prep and practice. Hopefully the results will start coming,' he said.
'A bit of a struggle so far, but hopefully a step in the right direction. It's felt like a long season already, but we still have a long way to go. I'm trying to focus on the day-to-day and just keep progressing.'
Cockerill has now jumped to 103rd in the current tour rankings, which is significant as the top 110 at the end of the year will keep their full-time card. He's also close to $250,000 in earnings.
He's not out of the woods yet, and simply maintaining his playing status isn't the ultimate goal. Cockerill is still looking for his first win, and he'd also like to get back inside the Top 70 which means getting into the year-end playoffs.
To that end, Cockerill politely declined an invitation to play in this week's RBC Canadian Open in Ontario, where a sponsor's exemption for the PGA Tour event once again awaited him as it has for the previous few years. Instead, he's competing in the KLM Open in the Netherlands.
'With the slow start over here, I just wanted to have some better results before skipping an event,' said Cockerill. 'I would love to play my national open, but I just kind of have to focus on things over here.'
'It feels like the game's coming along. Hopefully these pills keep working and I don't have any more of those issues.'– Aaron Cockerill
This is Cockerill's sixth full year playing in Europe. He only had temporary status in 2020 (118th-overall) and 2021 (152nd) before steadily climbing and getting his full card in 2022 (107th), 2023 (76th) and 2024 (49th). He currently sits 345th in the Official World Golf Ranking after reaching a high of 190th early last year.
'It feels like the game's coming along. Hopefully these pills keep working and I don't have any more of those issues,' said Cockerill. 'I know the results will come and hopefully get back to on track to kind of where it was last year.'
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Cockerill, his wife Chelsea and their two-year-old daughter Addison, are now based out of Dubai in order to make travel a lot easier. They still come home multiple times a year, with a two-week visit to Winnipeg beginning next Monday. He will head back to play events in Italy and Germany before an even longer break back in Manitoba, which includes renting a cottage in Lac du Bonnet.
'Just trying to have the best of both worlds, play 25 tournaments (overseas) a year and then balance off the time being able to see family and friends,' he said.
'I know this may not last forever. Our little girl is going to be in school in a a couple years and we're probably going to have to be a little more permanent by then. Just trying to do what we can now and make the best of it all.'
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg
Mike McIntyreReporter
Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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