Mickelson had kept fans and officials guessing nearly down to the wire, hanging on to the long shot hope that storms might delay the start of the year's second major and allow him to attend the graduation and then fly from San Diego to Wisconsin to make his tee time.
Day, who won the 2015 PGA Championship up the road at Whistling Straits, had to birdie his last hole Thursday to break 80.
While McIlroy brushed aside concerns about the long fescue in the days before the Open, Kevin Na caused a bit of a stir when he posted a video to his Instagram account complaining about the long stuff at Erin Hills.
"I take it as a compliment", said Fowler.
Amateur players are also dominating the headlines at the golf course, with several, including Cameron Champ, scampering up the leaderboard as the tournament progresses.
Bill Haas played bogey-free in his round of 68 and joined a group at 4-under 140 that included Harris English (69) and Marc Leishman (72).
"Show up for the last six holes, anyway", McIlroy said.
Pro golfer Steve Elkington tweeted that Rory McIlroy must be "so bored playing golf" since Tiger Woods isn't now playing. But more storms were in the forecast for Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon, so there's not much chance of Erin Hills getting firm, fast and scary.
McIlroy was never in the short grass from the 11th hole to the end on Thursday when he opened with a career-worst 78, and he didn't do almost enough in the second round until it was far too late.
Sure, he birdied four of his last six holes to salvage a 71 and finish at 5-over 149. But then he three-putted from long range on the 13th and the 14th, and lost all hope when he missed the green on the 17th while going after the flag.
RIDE 'EM COWBOYS: Jordan Niebrugge wore an orange shirt for the second round at the U.S. Open, switching to a colour he usually dons on Sundays. This one he'd rather forget. One example of that was Fowler hitting 3-wood into the green on the 632-yard 18th hole, with a breeze at his back. His drive appeared to sail into the rough.
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Can leading Brits Casey and Tommy Fleetwood (-5) keep pace with Fowler on day two? Fowler tees off in the afternoon. Moments later, he began a run of five straight birdies that put him right where he wanted to be going into the weekend.
"You don't often see that in a U.S. Open", Hadwin said. He tapped in for par.
Day finished a whopping 15 shots behind leader Rickie Fowler. He shot 42 on the back. Starting on the back nine, he exchanged a birdie on 11 with a bogey on 12.
The 2016 Masters champion withdrew before his tee time in the second round on Friday.
Health officials say E. coli bacteria have been found in a drinking water station at Erin Hills golf course where the U.S. Open is underway, but there have been no reports of illness. It was the lowest score to par in the first round of the National Open since Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf fired 7-under 63s at Baltusrol in 1980.
The 29-year-old Willett has had recurring back issues during his career. Schauffele went 26 consecutive holes without a bogey until he rammed his long birdie putt on No. 9 about 12 feet by the hole and narrowly missed the par putt. The defending champion shot a 73.
No matter. He shot 38 on his first nine but rallied for 33 on his second nine. "Then clawed all the way back and actually picked up one more to the good by the time we were finished".
Here comes Si Woo Kim.
The last thing the USGA wants is to trick up the golf course, because the U.S. Open has had too many bumps (conditions at Chambers Bay, the rules mess at Oakmont) to risk anything but a smooth week.
"I thought it was a very good round, although I was pretty nervous at the beginning", said Diaz, who played alongside Stewart Cink and local favorite Steve Stricker.
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