Michelle Wie's comeback continued yesterday in Rochester, N.Y., where the former Hawai'i golfing prodigy opened the Wegmans LPGA tournament with a 1-under-par 71.

Wie, an 18-year-old Punahou School alum playing on a sponsor's exemption, was tied for 21st, three strokes off the lead.

Wie suffered a wrist injury early last year, and that, coupled with a resulting loss of confidence, saw her world ranking plummet to its current No. 200.

However, she recently finished sixth in the German Open and qualified for next week's U.S. Open after shooting 4-under 137 at a sectional qualifier in Rockville, Md.

Yesterday, Wie made three birdies and two bogeys at the 6,328-yard Locust Hill Country Club.

Japan's Ai Miyazato, celebrating her 23rd birthday, shot a 4-under 68 to join Cristie Kerr and five South Korean players atop a crowded leaderboard.

"I think it was a good start to my birthday. I want to win a tournament this year," said Miyazato, one of the biggest female stars in Japanese sports history but winless in 56 career starts on the LPGA Tour.

Jeong Jang, Inbee Park, Song-Hee Kim, Jimin Jeong and Soo-Yun Kang, who holed a 9-wood shot for an ace on the 165-yard seventh hole, also shot 68s.

Kerr, a nine-time tour winner, is especially mindful of the South Koreans' passion — and flair.

"They're all good and they're all young. It's pretty amazing," she said.

Morgan Pressel, Becky Lucidi, Sweden's Helen Alfredsson and South Korea's Hee-Won Han, Na On Min, Kyeong Bae and Young-A Yang opened with 69s.

Defending champion Lorena Ochoa, the No. 1 player in women's golf, carded an even-par 72 in cool, blustery conditions, one better than Annika Sorenstam.

Ochoa, who won in Rochester in 2005 and 2007, is seeking her seventh win this season. With $1.9 million in earnings, she has a half-million-dollar lead over Sorenstam, whose best finish in four tries here was a second place in 1996.

Kerr said she had a flare-up of "neck issues" that have dogged her for the last six or seven years. She also held the first-round lead last year despite battling a severe head cold.

"Beware of the wounded," she said.

Sandwiched between two majors — the U.S. Women's Open is at Edina, Minn. — the $2 million tournament drew 88 of the top 100 money winners. Among them were rookie Yani Tseng (72) of Taiwan, whose victory at the LPGA Championship two weeks ago dashed Ochoa's chances of capturing a third straight major.

A 14-time winner on the Japanese tour, Miyazato has accumulated 13 top-10 finishes in the last two years, her best outing a runner-up spot to Seon Hwa Lee last July in the HSBC Women's Match Play Championship.

The highlight of her bogey-free round was a 21-foot birdie putt on No. 18 — her ninth hole — but she lost a chance to take an outright lead on the last hole, missing a 9-footer for birdie on the par-3 ninth.

"I hit it too hard and try to hole it instead of concentrating on my stroke," she said.