Canadians Tracker: On bubble, Pendrith off to level start at BMW Championship

Needing a strong result this week at the BMW Championship, Canada's Taylor Pendrith kept himself in contention with an even-par 70 on Thursday.

Pendrith enters the event sitting 35th in the FedEx Cup standings and needs to rise at least five spots to keep his season alive. The Richmond Hill, Ont. native got off to a strong start, posting two birdies on the first four holes but was undone by bogeys on the seventh and 14th holes. 

Low scores were largely hard to come by for the field on Thursday, with Victor Hovland holding the clubhouse lead at 3-under.

Watch coverage of the BMW Championship LIVE NOW on TSN+. 

Winnipeg's Nick Taylor currently sits 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings after falling four spots last week and finished with a 2-over 72.  

With the starting strokes format eliminated, reaching the top 30 has never been more important with the whole field entering the Tour Championship on level footing in the winner-take-all event. A whopping 2,000 points will be given to the winner of this week's tournament, enough to propel anyone into the top five, but the 280 points of a top-10 finish are also enough to rocket any player into the East Lake field.

Canadian Corey Conners entered this week in the top 30, looking to hold on to his spots for next week. Conners is 16th after dropping three spots at the St. Jude. 

Track the opening rounds for the Canadians at the BMW Championship right here on TSN.ca. 

Leader: Robert MacIntyre: -8