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DUBLIN, Ohio -- Paul Casey expected to be chasing someone Friday in the Memorial, figuring it would be Rory McIlroy. After two holes, Casey had the lead to himself at Muirfield Village, and that was only the start of another big day. He took advantage of the par 5s for another 6-under 66, giving him a three-shot lead over Masters champion Bubba Watson going into the weekend. McIlroy, whose 63 was the lowest first round in the 39-year history of the tournament, was barely in the picture. He was 15 shots worse with a 78, courtesy of three straight double bogeys and his fourth straight PGA Tour event with a nine-hole score of 40 or higher. McIlroy went from a three-shot lead to nine shots behind. "To be honest, I thought I was going to be playing a round to try and maybe catch a couple of guys," Casey said. "I woke up checking the scores to see what Rory was going to be. Thats really what I was going to be doing -- see how many under I was going to have to try to shoot to chase. Obviously, that didnt happen." Casey, taking another step on a long road back from injuries that nearly derailed his career, was at 12-under 132. He made his first birdie with his best drive of the day on the par-5 11th, setting up a 4-iron onto the green for a two-putt birdie. He made eagle on the par-5 15th hole for the second straight day, and he stuffed it close around the turn for birdies to start pulling away from the field. Watson gave him a good run in an active round that featured six birdies, five bogeys and an eagle. He only was angry at a few shots where he failed to concentrate. Even so, a bogey-bogey finish wasnt enough to entirely ruin his day. Watson has never finished better than 23rd in eight previous appearances. "I cant look at the bogeys," Watson said. "Ive got to look at where Im at. If you told me its my best two days around this golf course, Id take it." Chris Kirk (70) was four shots behind. Hideki Matsuyama (67) and Martin Flores (68) were five back. Adam Scott, who won Colonial in his debut at No. 1 in the world, shot 70 and was at 5-under 139, still in the mix depending on how Casey fares on the weekend. Phil Mickelson was happy to get in two more rounds. He shot a 70, though he was 10 shots back. Canadian Mike Weir failed to make the cut after an even par 72 on Friday to finish 1-over through two days. Casey, once a Ryder Cup regular who reached as high as No. 3 in the world, is slowly getting his game and his life back in the right place. He endured injuries to his shoulder and his toe that kept him winless for more than two years. He went through a divorce. He wondered if he would ever return to the brand of golf he was capable of playing. Weeks like this offer promise. Casey won the Irish Open a year ago with what he called "spectacular" golf. The game is still there. "Its slowly crawling along and making progress, climbing back up the ladder, however you want to phrase it," Casey said. "Its very difficult when youve played to a certain level and then ... I genuinely had no clue how to play to that level. "Luckily, I didnt think about that too long." His life is back in order. Casey is married to British television presenter Pollyanna Woodward. They are expecting their first child (a boy) in September. He talks about having perspective, knowing where golf fits on his list of whats important. His golf has looked familiar over the last two days. McIlroy could say the same. Except for last week at the BMW PGA Championship in England, which he won with birdies on the last two holes, McIlroys good golf has been stalled by bad patches, and Friday was no exception. In fact, it nearly has become the rule. He shot a 43 on the back nine -- he started the round at No. 10 -- making this the fourth consecutive PGA Tour event where he shot at least 40 over nine holes. All of them have been in the second round. McIlroy twice hit the trees on the 13th hole and made double bogey. He hit into the water on the 14th for double bogey. And then he double-hit a wedge on the 15th to make it three straight double bogeys. "These little runs Im getting on where it gets away from me, I was able to avoid that last week," McIlroy said. "Not so much this week. Even though I had such a bad day, Im still in with a chance depending on what the guys do this afternoon. So going into the weekend, not exactly where I want to be. But it could be worse." Casey simple made it a lot harder. Ecco Scarpe Saldi .com) - Longtime Senators star Daniel Alfredsson returned to Ottawa on Thursday to officially announce his retirement. Ecco Outlet Italia . Then youve got to worry about the other up and coming teams in the two weaker divisions in the "Junior Circuit". http://www.eccooutlet.it/. The moves were the first punitive steps taken by the Dolphins since a report on the NFLs investigation of the case was released last week. Investigators found that guard Richie Incognito and two teammates engaged in persistent harassment directed at tackle Jonathan Martin, another offensive lineman and an assistant trainer. Ecco Scarpe Offerta . 3 seed Phillip Kohlschreiber from Germany. Defending champion Marin Cilic also reached the semifinals -- his fourth in Zagreb -- defeating fellow Croat Ivan Dodig. German qualifier Bjorn Phau beat Dudi Sela of Israel to reach his first semifinals in nearly five years. Ecco Scontate Outlet . - Andrew McCutchen went 4 for 5 and finished a home run short of a cycle, and Jordy Mercer drove in a career-high four runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The game had been over for hours. Kauffman Stadium had gone dark. The roars of a sold-out crowd, which had rooted the Kansas City Royals to a sweep of the mighty Los Angeles Angels, had drifted away into the cool night air.A few miles away, at a bar and grill called McFaddens, the party was just beginning.Greg Holland had showed up, the All-Star closer watching with a grin as highlights of the game played on television. Salvador Perez and Jarrod Dyson, both integral parts in the Royals playoff push, posed with fans for more pictures than they could count. First baseman Eric Hosmer put down his credit card and for a full hour picked up the tab for hundreds of strangers.Its fun to get to enjoy it with the whole entire city. Its a special time, Hosmer said a few days later. I think the buildup to this, its been so long. Theyve been hungry for a winner. What were doing now has just been a blast.So much so that Hosmer didnt mind his credit card taking a hit — he shared the $15,000 bar bill with some teammates — after beating the Angels in their AL Divisional Series.We realize how bad the fans want it, how bad the city wants it, Hosmer explained. I think this team symbolizes the attitude of this city — tough, were not going to quit and were going to fight to the end. Its a pretty special bond weve created.Its a pretty rare bond, too, in modern professional sports.As the Royals prepare to play the San Francisco Giants in the World Series on Tuesday night, capping their first post-season appearance since winning the title in 1985, the relationship they have established with their long-suffering fans harkens back to a bygone era.Its reminiscent of a time when players lived in the same neighbourhood as working-class fans, because they too were working class. When they had to find off-season jobs just to make ends meet, long before million-dollar contracts. When you walked into the barbershop or the supermarket and would see Duke Snider or Red Schoendienst getting a trim or perusing the vegetables.Only now, players and fans are connecting over drinks at a bar in the trendy Power and Light District of Kansas City. Or theyre connecting on Twitter in 140-word bursts.Didnt hear about that one? Well, life-long Royals fan Nicholas Knapple didnt have the cash for playoff tickets, so he messaged a few players on Twitter with a pplea.dddddddddddd. One of them was Brandon Finnegan. The rookie pitcher promptly hooked him up.Knapple found himself watching Game 3 of the AL Championship Series against the Baltimore Orioles with his girlfriend and Finnegans mom — and an entire section filled with friends and family of other Royals players.After the seventh inning, his mom told us we were going downstairs for the celebration, Knapple said in a phone interview. So after the game, we got to go down outside the clubhouse. We got to meet Danny Duffy, take pictures. It was unbelievable.About as unbelievable as the Royals post-season run.The happy marriage between the Royals and their fans was a rocky relationship earlier this summer. Third baseman Mike Moustakas was getting booed off the field. Manager Ned Yost had gone back to using an alias when he ordered at Starbucks. Even longtime designated hitter Billy Butler was starting to feel the wrath of a fan base that had been pining for success.Then two fans popped onto the Royals radar, and things seemed to change.One was Tim Grimes, a 28-year-old fan battling Stage 4 cancer. Doctors gave him a 5 per cent chance of surviving the next 18 months. He is spending it relishing every pitch and every hit.The other was SungWoo Lee, a fan from South Korea. He wakes up in the middle of the night, every night, to watch the Royals online. In August, he finally made it to Kansas City.Perhaps it was coincidence, perhaps it was fate. But at the same time their stories were told, the Royals started to win. They climbed out of a deep hole in the AL Central, made a big push for the pennant, and then qualified for the wild-card game.Then they rallied from a four-run hole to beat the Oakland Athletics in 12 dramatic innings.I think thats really when it all came together, said Bob Fescoe, the host of a popular morning talk show on 610 Sports in Kansas City. The players saw the way the fans reacted, and the way fans cheered for them and stayed through that entire game.In fact, they keep staying through games, until long after theyre over. When the Royals clinched their first pennant in 29 years, security had to begin ushering them out of the ballpark so the cleaning crews could begin their work.No matter. There was almost certainly a party they could go to somewhere.Good chance that some of the Royals were already there. 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