Normally I don't do this, but in LeAnna Wicks' case I'm making an exception.

Wicks, 26, is a rookie on the LPGA Tour. She lives in Brighton and graduated from the University of Michigan. When I spoke with her on the phone this week, Wicks faced the dim prospect of hitting balls off artificial-turf mats into a field of snow at her local driving range.

She should have been on a golf course in Arizona or Florida. She should have been preparing to play alongside the best women's golfers in the world.

But she wasn't. Lack of money was the reason.

So Wicks asked that the name and number of her agent be included in this story in case a potential sponsor had interest in helping her. Her agent's name is Brad Hewitt of StarPro Sports Management, and he can be reached at 330-472-4761 or at brad@starprosports.net .

Wicks has the game for the LPGA Tour. She's accurate off the tee and on her approaches. She was the Big Ten individual runner-up in 2002, and last season on the Futures Tour she made eight cuts in nine tournaments. She made $6,101. In her two previous seasons on the Futures Tour, Wicks could only afford to play in five events and made $860.

"I'm trying to find sponsors in order to finance being out there and playing in tournaments," she said. "Last year I was fully exempt on the Futures Tour, but nine was the most that I was able to afford to play in."

The strange thing is now that Wicks has made it to the LPGA Tour via the qualifying tournament in December, it has been no easier for her to find sponsorship.

I get a kick out of fans when they talk about the cushy life of tour golfers. What they don't realize is that for every Tiger Woods out there who cruises to tournaments in his Gulfstream V, there are hundreds who split driving duties with their caddies and visit more drive-through windows than your average teenager.

"Sometimes people don't realize that with other sports you turn pro, you sign a contract and you get paid," Wicks said. "And with golf it works so much differently, and I think a lot of times people don't understand you're paying all your own expenses."

It would have been easy for Wicks to give up on her dream of playing on the LPGA Tour. In her first two seasons on the Futures Tour she probably made more money in between tournaments, when she came home and worked in the pro shop at the U-M Golf Course.

But the dream and her desire never waned, and she was drawn to the independent spirit of the game.

"The thing I like about golf is that it does rely upon you," she said. "You don't have to put what happens to you in someone else's hands. It's all you."

The irony is that Wicks is reliant on others to get on the golf course. She estimated it costs $2,000 to sustain herself for one tournament.

Wicks hopes to play in about 10 LPGA events this year and a handful of other Futures Tour events. She knows the road ahead isn't the easiest, but that doesn't seem to deter her.

"It makes it a little more difficult at times when you're just struggling even to be out there financially and then not be making a ton of money in return," she said. "But I think the thing that keeps you going is you see what your long-term goal is and that it's just a stepping-stone to get you where you want to go. As long as you can keep that in mind, I think it helps, at least for me, to stay focused and keep the desire and the determination level high."