Canadian golfer Aaron Cockerill settled for a runner-up finish at the DP World Tour’s ISPS Handa Championship after losing a playoff to Australia’s Lucas Herbert on Sunday in Omitama, Japan.
Herbert drained a 12-footer for birdie on the second playoff hole — the par-4 18th — to win after Cockerill missed a longer birdie putt.
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Both players parred the first playoff hole — also No. 18. Herbert just missed chipping in for birdie and Cockerill then had a birdie putt lip out, denying the Canadian his first win as a professional.
The 31-year-old Cockerill, from Stony Mountain, Man., fell just short of becoming the first Canadian to win an event on the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) not affiliated with the PGA Tour since Jerry Anderson took the 1984 European Masters Swiss Open.
The first Canadian-born golfer to play full-time on the DP World Tour since the early 1990s, Cockerill made great par saves on the final two holes to secure a playoff.
Cockerill made a lengthy two-putt on No. 17 before getting up-and-down from a greenside bunker on No. 18, nearly holing the sand shot.
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Cockerill was 15 under for the four-round tournament after shooting a 2-under 68 on Sunday. Herbert had a final-round 67.
Cockerill and his wife, Chelsea, became parents on Feb. 1 with the birth of their daughter, Addison.
He’s also been playing good golf, coming off a tie for 13th at a tournament in South Africa. Cockerill is projected to move up to 25th in DP World Tour rankings.
Cockerill started playing on the DP World Tour in 2019-20.
