EVIAN, France — Paula Creamer and Christina Kim of the United States shot 4-under 68s on Thursday, leaving them two-strokes ahead of Annika Sorenstam after the Swede pulled back into contention with a 66.

Laura Davies and overnight co-leader Carin Koch were three strokes off the lead in the $2.4 million Evian Masters. Davies shot 70 and Koch carded 73. Lorena Ochoa had a 69 and Carrie Webb shot 70, putting them four strokes behind.

Hawaiian 15-year-old Michelle Wie, who opened on Wednesday with a 75, shot 70 to trail the leaders by nine. She is 1-over-par 145 for two rounds.

Like Wie, the 18-year-old Creamer is another talented teenager. She holed seven birdies and had three bogeys. The 21-year-old Kim, who has played every tournament this season, had five birdies and dropped just one shot.

Winning the British Open for the second time at St. Andrews the way I did was just a dream come true for me. When I first went there in 1995 as an amateur, I just thought it was the coolest place. I still do.

I’ll never forget I played my first 18 holes in a practice round at St. Andrews and every single hole was into the wind. I just happened to catch the tide when it changed. It was just so unreal. Anything can happen on that course.

My introduction to links golf in ‘95, I played Carnoustie in the Scottish Open and I played St. Andrews in the British Open. That’s as good as it gets, to play two of the greatest golf courses in Scotland on your first two visits.

Coming into the tournament this year, I knew I was playing well. My practice sessions the week before in Ireland I thought were key because I hit the ball so beautifully over there. I just needed to keep that going, get a feel for the greens and putt well. All of a sudden, everything started coming together. I was just kind of hoping I could keep it together for the entire week.

Four past champions on the PGA TOUR made their Champions Tour debuts today. Greg Norman, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and winner of 20 PGA TOUR events including the 1986 and 1993 British Opens, started with a 5-over 76 today. Loren Roberts, an eight-time winner on the TOUR, is leading the event after carding a 1-over 72 today at Royal Aberdeen. The previous high first-round score to lead at this championship were 2-under 70s by David Oakley and Ray Carrasco in 1999.

Joining Jim Kelly, PGA TOUR player Paul Stankowski filled in for Phil Tataurangi this week on the PGA TOUR Network on XM Satellite Radio broadcast of PGA TOUR Live at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Play finally resumed at Brown Deer Golf Course at 3:45 p.m. ET after a nearly five-hour rain delay, which can really wear on the players. According to Stankowski, “you really have to detach yourself” from the game and do “whatever you can not to think about golf. It’s the last thing you want to think about, because it does you no good.”

Stankowski said players find a variety of ways to pass the time. “You do a lot of watching [TV] during rain delays and a lot of eating. There are a lot of cookies in the locker room and they’re not good for the waistline…They’re good cookies, though.”

ABERDEEN, Scotland — Loren Roberts made his Champions Tour debut Thursday with a 1-over 72 at Royal Aberdeen to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Senior British Open.

Roberts, who turned 50 on June 24, overcame some uncharacteristic three-putts and the strong North Sea wind that blew across the course and kept anyone from breaking par.

“I made some three-putts today, which I don’t normally do,” said Roberts, one of the best putters in golf. “But all in all, I made some good putts today.”

He made six birdies to offset five bogeys and a double bogey at the par-4 ninth for a one-shot lead over Craig Stadler, Des Smyth and four others. Former Ryder Cup captain Mark James of England was at 74.

ATLANTA — The LPGA turned down a 15-year-old girl who wanted a chance to qualify for a spot on the Tour in 2006.

Carmen Bandea, who lives with her parents in suburban Duluth, asked outgoing LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw to waive the requirement that a golfer must be 18 to become a Tour member.

In a letter, Votaw cited the teenager’s lack of tournament experience for denying her request to enter qualifying school this fall.