Canada's Cockerill has eye on the British Open after second-place finish in Japan

A near-win at the ISPS Handa Championship has Canada's Aaron Cockerill dreaming of the first major of his career.

Cockerill lost to Australia's Lucas Herbert in a two-hole playoff at PGM Ishioka Golf Club in Omitama, Japan, on Sunday. That second-place finish moved Cockerill up to 25th on the DP World Tour's points list and within range of a berth at the upcoming British Open.

"If I keep moving up and stay high on the Race to Dubai standings, there's a chance that I could play in maybe a couple of majors this year, which would be a first for me," said Cockerill, who is based in Dubai and is a regular on the Europe-based DP World Tour.

Cockerill, who is from Stony Mountain, Man., has until June 28 to qualify himself for the British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on July 16. His clearest route is to be one of the top five players, not already exempt for the Open, within the top 20 of the Race to Dubai Rankings through the BMW International Open in Munich.

Currently sitting 25th on that list has him within an iron's distance of that goal, especially as several players ahead of him in the DP World Tour rankings — like former British Open champion Rory McIlroy and world No. 1 Jon Rahm — already have spots at the prestigious event based on other qualifications.

Cockerill also moved up to 250th in the men's world golf rankings, the highest Canadian not on the PGA Tour. Golf Canada recognized him as its player of the week for the strong showing in Japan.

He said it was "pretty cool" to be recognized by the national sport organization.

"I feel like sometimes it's harder to keep track of golf over on the European Tour with the time zones and everything like that," said Cockerill from Incheon, South Korea, where he will play in this week's Korea Championship presented by Genesis. "It's a little bit of an acknowledgment and some people who may forget about (the tour) will maybe tune in and pay attention to the golf on our tour as well."

The 31-year-old Cockerill said that his game has been rounding into form this season because he's more mature and that "all the boring stuff" is adding up.

"I take care of myself, I don't really go out, I'm not drinking a whole lot," said Cockerill. "I'm pretty disciplined with my practice. I set up a schedule of what I want to do every single week on tour, and I just tick them off, tick off the boxes and make sure I complete all my drills and games and maintenance things that I need to do throughout the week."

PRESIDENTS CUP — Andre Silva was named the vice-president of the Presidents Cup International Team on Wednesday, a new position based at the PGA Tour's headquarters in Florida that will focus on elevating the brand of the International Team and the Presidents Cup as a whole. Silva had previously been the tournament director at the Players Championship. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., will be the team's captain when Royal Montreal Golf Club hosts the event in 2024.

PGA TOUR — Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., are the only Canadians in this week's Mexico Open at Vidanta. Pendrith is 113th on the FedEx Cup points list and Gligic is 201st.

KORN FERRY TOUR — Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., is ranked third on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour heading into the Hometown Lenders Championship. He'll be joined by Edmonton's Wil Bateman, Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., and Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Mississauga, Ont., at The Ledges in Huntsville, Ala.

PGA TOUR LATINOAMERICA — Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., is 12th in the PGA Tour Latinoamerica standings heading into the Diners Club Peru Open. Max Sekulic of Rycroft, Alta., Joey Savoie of La Prairie, Que., Vancouver's Stuart Macdonald and Blair Bursey of Gander, N.L., are also in the field at Los Inkas Golf Club in Lima.

LPGA TOUR — No. 6 Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., leads the Canadian contingent into this week's JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro. Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont., rose to 44th on the Race to CME Globe rankings following her tie for 18th at the Chevron Championship, the first major of the women's golf season. Henderson and Szeryk will be joined by Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., at Wilshire Country Club.

EPSON TOUR — Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont., is 57th on the second-tier Epson Tour's rankings heading into this week's Copper Rock Championship in Hurricane, Utah. She'll be joined by Hamilton's Alena Sharp and Josee Doyon of St-Georges-de-Beauce, Que. Sharp is 62nd in the standings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2023.