Every weekday morning, we'll serve up some of the best in the day's golf writing. Read it on your way to the first tee.

Armchair Golf asks Paula Creamer for her best advice for amateurs, among other questions: "Practice your short game as much as the long game and don't get down on yourself if things go south. This game can drive anyone crazy at any level. Have fun! After all, you're lucky in that you can talk trash with your buddies and get away with it."

Spencer Dieck of Tuna Golf (and our comments section) stands up for the sport we love in his 2009 preview at The Big Lead: "People ... pay attention to golf this year. We have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a growing pool of elite players than we've ever had before. Even last season we didn't have the same number of guys just chomping at the bit like we do now. There are at least 10 guys out there just dying to get a major, golfers who want it so bad they'd kill for a chance to win. Each week is going to be a dogfight between one of these top players and these guys have definitely separated themselves from the pack. When golf had Jack squaring off against Arnie, Gary Player, Tom Watson and Lee Trevino every single major, the game was never better. We're entering another era just like that, except there are twice as many worthy challengers to the throne of a wounded king. It's going to be one helluva season."

Is the Bob Hope tourney salvageable? Should it even be saved? "For all the speculation over this being the final Bob Hope Classic, some knowledgeable golf fans might be wondering if the tournament is really worth saving. Few PGA Tour events have tumbled further or faster in recent years -- Kapalua and Colonial are the only ones that come to mind. There was a time not so long ago when the Hope produced some of the highest TV ratings on the schedule. Nowadays, the weekend rounds aren't even televised by a major network."

Seve Ballesteros is in better shape: "Seve Ballesteros said test results following his first course of chemotherapy came back 'quite good,' an encouraging sign for the 51-year-old golf great. The five-time major winner underwent four surgeries to remove a cancerous brain tumor after being admitted to a hospital on Oct. 6, when he fainted at Madrid's international airport. 'Fortunately the results were quite good,' Ballesteros said Wednesday, in a statement posted on his Web site. 'This Friday I shall begin my second chemotherapy course, which I hope and wish will be as effective as the first one.'"

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