The rain leading into the start of the U.S. Open only softened the greens, and they already were slightly softer than usual because of the wind that could lead to unplayable conditions.
After Matsuyama and Reavie, the next best round of the day was Bill Haas' 68.
And Casey was joined at the end of play by compatriot Tommy Fleetwood, and United States duo Brooks Koepka and Brian Harman on seven under par.
Jordan Spieth is 1 under after his first six holes.
Brooks Koepka bogeyed the par-3 sixth after hitting his tee shot near the grandstand and fell to 7 under.
It will be interesting to see if the course firms up over the weekend, providing players with a normal U.S. Open challenge.
Rickie Fowler was playing so cleanly at Erin Hills that the record appeared to be in jeopardy. A bogey at the extremely hard par-4 fourth hole was the only blip on the front nine, and he made the turn at one-over for the day. He missed the 15-footer.
The four-way tie was the most after two rounds in a U.S. Open since Winged Foot in 1974, back when the names were more familiar for a major - Raymond Floyd, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Hale Irwin, who went on to win his first major.
Dustin Johnson was right on the cut line with eight holes to play.
Brendan Steele hits a drive on the fifth hole during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament Friday, June 16, 2017, at Erin Hills in Erin, Wis. Fowler started on No. 1 made the turn at 2 under after a pair of birdies.
The Offaly man posted a disappointing 74, which saw last year's runner-up move from one under to one over at the end of the second round. No other information was provided.
Willett shot a 9-over 81 in the first round and then withdrew before his tee time in the second round.
The Englishman remains without a victory since his memorable Masters triumph past year, and he also withdrew from The Players Championship last month saying his "mind and body needed a rest".
It sounds as if Erin Hills is becoming more challenging with each passing minute.
"The biggest thing about this course is that the fairways are massive", Day said.
Harris English is 4 under after a second-round 69.
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"Show up for the last six holes, anyway", McIlroy said.
Jason Day, like McIlroy, failed to survive for the closing 36 holes here.
Phil Mickelson was a long shot to play in this U.S. Open, and the odds got even longer with a forecast of no chance of rain Thursday. One of the world's best drivers couldn't keep the ball out of the fescue and had a two-way miss going with his new TaylorMade driver.
"Definitely not U.S. Open-like", Marc Leishman said. This one he'd rather forget. He is 3-over par.
Paul Casey's birdie run is over.
While the former took a share of the haflway lead with a 71 which owed so much to heart and perseverance, the latter submitted to the cut in a performance which is beginning to sum up his miserable season. The Canadian was 100 feet away for birdie on No. 6 and burned the edge of the cup on that one, except that it ran by some 7 feet and he three-putted for bogey. He tapped in for par.
Harman birdied both par-3s on the back nine. Fowler shot a 73 and was still very much in the hunt at a second straight major.
Day had triple bogeys at the fourth and the 10th as he fired a seven-over round of 79 in Wisconsin.
"You don't often see that in a U.S. Open", Hadwin said.
The performance of the 23-year-old from San Diego has been no less remarkable.
Johnson was playing alongside Jordan Spieth, who was also two under for the day after five and one under overall.
Here comes Si Woo Kim. Casey eagled the par-5, 608-yard first hole and tallied six birdies. But that wasn't the problem. Here he looks at his lie in the rough beside the 11th fairway.
By the time he made his way to the 15th tee, he'd penciled in a triple bogey-8 and had fallen three strokes off the pace, but he was far from finished. Rory McIlroy signed for a 78 after joking that anyone who couldn't hit such wide fairways should pack their bags and go home. He doesn't play until Friday afternoon.
Still to be determined was who made it to the weekend, and where the cut would fall.
Day shot a 75 for a two-day total of 10-over 154, ending at 17 the longest active streak of making the cut in the majors.
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