The skies above Pebble Beach Golf Links for most of Thursday’s first round were gray, but the leaderboard featured a different hue, one players aren’t typically accustomed to seeing at the U.S. Open: Red.

Not for the first time in his career, Rory McIlroy is taking the long view of his game as he searches for answers to the increasing distance between him and his last major championship victory.

Rory McIlroy staged a stirring Open Championship fightback at Royal Birkdale that will send him into today’s second round feeling he can get right among the leaders.