ST. LOUIS — One of the most offbeat stories at this PGA Championship is a player in the field virtually no one has ever heard of: Craig Hocknull.

He’s a 43-year-old Australian-born club pro who teaches in Arizona and Utah now — after spending time as a traveling trick-shot artist who produced the Outback Golf Show in 2003, for which he dressed like Crocodile Dundee and performed his skills around the world.

Hocknull, who’s ranked 2,043rd in the world, qualified for the PGA as one of the 20 club pros who got in through the PGA National Professional tournament in June.

This is his first major championship. And if he finds himself nervous on the first tee Thursday, Hocknull can refer to the most harrowing time of his life, when he was nearly the victim of a home invasion while he was in college at Jackson State University in Mississippi.

He survived an attempted armed robbery in 1994 while he and four roommates were in their apartment and two gun-wielding assailants attempted to break through the front door. Hocknull slammed the door on one of the attackers’ arms and was able to bolt the door shut.

“That was pretty scary times,” Hocknull recalled. “Growing up in Australia, I don’t even know if I ever saw a gun. I guess I shouldn’t have even opened the door. I was able to slam the door on his hand and shut the deadbolt. I’m thankful to be alive

“That was scary for all of us. My teammates came out with baseball bats and a golf club because we though they might try breaking through the window. We turned off the lights and stayed away from the windows. It felt like forever before the police showed up and we gave statements.”

Hocknull is a member of the PGAs of Australia, America and Canada, and in 2016 won the PGA Professionals of Canada Championship. He now splits his time between a coaching role at Saber Golf Academy in Arizona, which he founded, and teaching at a private golf club in Utah during summer.

“I’ve never even attended a major championship,” Hocknull said. “It’s surreal to work hard your whole life and your dream finally comes true.”

Fans are not the only people rooting for Tiger Woods to win again. Players who Woods will be trying to beat this week are pulling for him.

“Well, he’s Tiger, isn’t he?’’ Tommy Fleetwood said. “For people from my generation that would have grown up with Tiger in his prime, I mean, how many people get to sort of have the chance to be in contention or play against Tiger Woods on a final day of a major when he was the guy that you watched, he was the hero kind of thing?

“I think it’s something very special for quite a large number of players at the moment that he’s had his comeback and he’s playing well and we have that chance (that) we could eventually be playing with Tiger on a Sunday coming down the stretch. I think it’s very special.’’

Rory McIlroy, asked what he knows about St. Louis, said, “Honestly, not much. There’s two things I know about St. Louis — that Nelly, the rapper, is from here, and you got a pretty good baseball team.’’

McIlroy, Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia all went to the St. Louis Arch and hit balls for a promotional TV shoot on Monday.

“It’s cool to come to new cities,’’ McIlroy said. “It’s not very often that I go somewhere that I haven’t been before, so it was nice to get down there and be by the arch. It’s so iconic. Whenever you think of St. Louis, that’s what you think of. If I win on Sunday night, maybe I’ll get to see the nightlife and bring that Wanamaker (trophy) into some of the bars.’’

By winning the Barracuda Championship on Sunday, Andrew Putnam captured the first PGA Tour victory of his career and seized the final exemption into this week’s PGA Championship. Putnam will make his PGA Championship debut this week and play in just his second career major — his first since the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

If Phil Mickelson is able to make the cut and finish all four rounds, he will join seven others who have played in at least 100 PGA Championship rounds: Jack Nicklaus (128), Arnold Palmer (121), Raymond Floyd (116), Tom Watson (116), Tom Kite (102), Jay Haas (102) and Hale Irwin (100).

If you’ve seen some practice-round TV footage of the PGA, you might have noticed some players playing in shorts instead of the long slacks they usually play in. The PGA has relaxed policies in recent years and allows the players to wear shorts in the hot weather — but only in the practice rounds.

Dustin Johnson, so used to wearing slacks, said he forgot to pack shorts for the week.

“I did it last year and at Quail Hollow and it almost felt kind of weird wearing shorts, especially when I wear pants every single day out here,’’ Johnson said. “At home I do wear them a bunch.’’

The winner of the annual long drive competition during the practice rounds was Bryson DeChambeau, who pounded one 331 yards on the 10th hole, which was used for the contest. Peter Uihlein finished second at 328 yards, Tony Finau third at 324. The top three finishers were granted $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000 charity donations in their names to organizations of their choice.

DeChambeau chose to donate his winnings to the family of Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle, who died at 36 after a long struggle with cancer. Lyle, who won twice on the Nationwide Tour in 2008, was first diagnosed with leukemia as a teenager and suffered recurrences of the disease in 2012 and 2017. Last week, he announced his decision to forego further treatment and enter palliative care.