Inspired by 9/11 Memorial visit, Chappell shots 62

A major part of Kevin Chappell's preparation for The Barclays playoff tournament this week occurred nowhere near the golf course. He and his fiancee Elizabeth Petrie took the PATH train to Manhattan on Wednesday and visited the 9/11 Memorial.

"It just really puts golf in its place," said the Californian, who shot a record 62 at Liberty National Saturday and finished the third round at 11 under par, one shot out of the lead. "It seems to be whenever I get too caught up or too emotional about my game, life hits me hard. That was a great experience and a learning one for me and it really kind of tightened my screws mentally."

Of Ground Zero, he said: "It's eerily quiet in there, for such a large city. Just to see the amount of people that you see there, all feeling the same thing. It's not too often you see a group of strangers have the same emotion. At least that's what it felt to me while I was there."

Crowd falls for Lynn

David Lynn became an instant gallery favorite Saturday on the ninth green. As he squatted behind his ball, lining up his putt, he simply lost his balance and toppled over. Fans reacted, and he made a motion with his hand toward his mouth, suggesting he had had too much to drink. The crowd roared.

"I don't even know why I fell over," the 39-year-old from England said. "It's good fun out there. They're very vocal. It takes you away from golf a little bit, when you hear some of the comments."

So, were some of the voluble spectators clever? "They try to be," Lynn said.

Phil's putter sputters

Phil Mickelson has been tinkering with his putting grip a lot recently, even though he said he unlocked the secret to putting right before he won the British Open. It appears he still has some work to do.

Mickelson, who has alternated between standard and claw grip throughout the year and did so in the middle of his second round at The Barclays, three-putted from a little more than 5 feet on his second hole (the par-3 11th) for a double bogey. He rebounded to shoot 1-under 70 and is 3 under overall, leaving him in a tie for 34th place.

Aces for Choi, Chalmers

K.J. Choi made a hole-in-one on the 150-yard 14th hole. Greg Chalmers, playing in the next group, did the same.