Canadians Tracker: Taylor, Pendrith finish under-par in opening round at St. Jude

Four Canadians are in the field at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Follow their opening rounds with a hole-by-hole tracker HERE on TSN.ca.

The FedEx St. Jude Championship is the first of three events comprising the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

You can watch LIVE coverage of the first round of the St. Jude Championships on TSN.ca and the TSN App with a subscription to TSN+.

Teeing off from TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn., the top 70 players on the PGA Tour get their first taste of playoff action at the St. Jude.

The playoffs continue next week with the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md., where the top 50 in points on the FedEx Cup standings after Sunday's round will advance.

Canada's Mackenzie Hughes needs a strong showing to keep his playoffs alive as he enters this week at No. 59 in the rankings. Taylor Pendrith enters at No. 37, while Nick Taylor (No. 18) and Corey Conners (No. 13) are safely in place to advance.

Following the BMW Championship, the top 30 in points will compete a week later at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga.

You can follow the leaderboard at the FedEx St. Jude Championship HERE on TSN.ca.

Taylor had the low round of the day amongst the Canadian contingent on Thursday, firing a 3-under 67 for a share of 12th place on the leaderboard.

Taylor, of Abbotsford, B.C., played steady golf all afternoon, with 13 pars, four birdies and just one bogey, coming on the par-4 18th, in his opening round. After Thursday, he is projected to stand pat in 18th place in the FedEx Cup standings and remains in position to advance to the BMW Championship.

Pendrith got off to hot start by playing his first six holes at 2-under, but followed up with a long string of pars to halt his momentum. A pair of dropped shots on the 14th and 17th threatened to derail his day, before bouncing back with a birdie on the last to salvage a 1-under 69.

The Richmond Hill, Ont., native is currently projected to drop three spots to 41st after Thursday's action.

Conners and Hughes shot matching 1-over 71s to finish in a share of 49th in the 69-man field. 

Conners, of Listowel, Ont., headed onto the 17th tee at 1-under but closed with a par and double-bogey to finish the day over-par. He is slated to drop six places from 13th to 19th.

Hughes, hailing from Hamilton, Ont., traded birdies and bogeys for much of the day, but had the chance to finish under-par after a birdie on the par-4 15th. Hughes would card pars on 16 and 17, before bogeying the last for a 71. Coming into Thursday in 59th, he will need to piece together three solid rounds to have a chance at qualifying for the BMW.

Leader: Akshay Bhatia (-8)