Reports that Punahou senior Michelle Wie will definitely not play in the LPGA's first major of the year were termed inaccurate yesterday by the family spokesman from Ken Sunshine Consultants in New York City.

A story in this week's East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune said Wie had officially declined an exemption to play in the Safeway International in two weeks because of her injured left wrist. It also quoted a Safeway tournament director as saying Wie was "unofficially" out of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, a major the following week in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

The Wie spokesman said his client had informed Safeway early that she would not play "as a courtesy" because she had been offered the exemption. He added that her chances of playing at Kraft are "50-50." Wie earned her way into the major with a third-place finish last year and can wait until just before it starts to make a decision on whether to play.

Wie played against the PGA Tour in January's Sony Open in Hawai'i with her sore right wrist wrapped. She missed the cut for the fourth time in as many years. Wie said she hurt that wrist when she hit off a cart path in October's Samsung World Championship and had been told it could be anything from "a tendon strain ... to a pinched nerve."

Soon after, she injured her left wrist and has been wearing a cast, and later a brace, on it. The family says it is not a fracture and her rehabilitation is going "as expected." The spokesman added that the time off from golf to heal the left wrist has helped her right wrist recover.

Wie has finished in the top 15 all four years she has played at Kraft, coming within a shot of a playoff last year.

The family spokesman again said there were no updates on Wie's 2007 schedule because "we are at the mercy of her rehabilitation schedule." The family never officially announced Wie's entry into the Safeway before she declined the exemption.

KIM LEADS STATE AMATEUR

State high school champion Chan Kim surged into a four-shot lead yesterday, halfway through the Hawai'i State Amateur Stroke Play Championship.

Kim, a Kaimuki High School junior, shot a 5-under-par 67. His two-day total of 5-under 139 is four better than Shuichi Udagawa (72) and Tu Hyon Kim (69).

Defending champion Toru Nakajima, the first-round leader, had a 76 and fell into fourth. Sacred Hearts junior Ayaka Kaneko, the only female in the field, is alone in fifth at 72-145.

The two Kims and Henry Park (70-146) were the only golfers to break par at Pearl Country Club. Park shares sixth with Brandan Kop (75), who was second last year. Kaua'i's Casey Watabu, the 2006 U.S. Public Links champion, is alone in eighth (75-147).

The cut came at 156, with 30 golfers advancing. The final two rounds tee off from 11:30 a.m.

MIYAJIMA FIRES 73

Maui's Shayna Miyajima opened the 2007 Duramed Futures Tour season by shooting a 1-over-par 73 yesterday at the $80,000 Lakeland Classic. Miyajima is tied for 29th going into today's second round.

Kailua's Bridget Dwyer shot 78 at the Cleveland Heights Golf Course in Lakeland, Fla.

There is a four-way tie for first at 69, with Meredith Ward, Thailand's Noon Huachai, Australia's Sarah-Jane Kenyon and Lori Atsedes.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.