Updated at 4:17 p.m., Thursday, March 22, 2007
Injured wrist to keep Wie from playing in LPGA major
Associated Press
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Michelle Wie will not play the Kraft Nabisco Championship next week while she recovers from a wrist injury, the first LPGA Tour major championship she has missed in two years.Wie injured her right wrist during a fall last month.
"While the rehabilitation of her wrist is on schedule, Michelle wants to make sure she gives fans everything she can the next time she steps on the course," said Jesse Derris of Ken Sunshine Consultants, a public relations firm the Wie family has hired to handle press inquiries. "She's not there yet."
Wie, a 17-year-old senior from Honolulu, has played only once this year, missing the cut by 14 shots at the Sony Open on the PGA Tour.
A year ago, Wie had a chance to win the Kraft Nabisco with a 25-foot eagle chip from just off the 18th green. It went 10 feet by the hole, and she missed the birdie putt to get into a playoff.
She also had a share of the lead on the back nine of two other majors, the LPGA Championship and U.S. Women's Open, before finishing in the top five in each. Wie finished her 2006 season by failing to break par in her final eight rounds on the LPGA Tour.
Her next appearance is expected to be in Orlando, Fla., the week after the Masters.
