Severiano Ballesteros, the man who revived the fortunes of European golf in the 1970s and 1980s, was reported to be in a stable condition in a Madrid hospital last night after suffering dizziness and briefly losing consciousness.

The news brought a look of shock to the face of Sergio GarcÍa, his countryman, who was at Turnberry yesterday to help to promote next season’s “Race to Dubai” on the European tour. “It’s very sad for a man like Seve to have health problems,” GarcÍa said. “I hope it is not too serious.” Ballesteros’s family have requested that no more information be released by the hospital.

This is not the first time that Ballesteros, 51, has had health issues. At the Open Championship at Carnoustie 15 months ago he held a press conference to scotch rumours, started on Spanish television, that he had attempted suicide a few weeks earlier after the death of a close friend. At the time, Ballesteros, who won five major championships - three Open Championships and two Masters titles - spent a night in hospital in Santander, in northern Spain, after a heart scare and was released when doctors diagnosed an irregular heartbeat.

The news about Ballesteros brought a tinge of melancholy to proceedings at Turnberry, the venue for the Open Championship next July, which had previously been upbeat and positive. GarcÍa made his strongest commitment yet to the European tour when he announced that he would be bidding to win the coming season’s new and lucrative programme.

The 2009 season begins with the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai next month and will herald the start of a 13-month programme of events, culminating with the Dubai World Championship in November next year in which the leading 60 players will compete for a first prize of $1.66 million (about £935,000). In addition the top 15 in the final standings will share a $10 million bonus pool, with $2 million going to the No 1.

GarcÍa, who will continue to play most of his golf on the PGA tour in the United States, will have to commit to playing 12 events on the European tour to join the race. “I want to be in it and I want to win it,” the Spaniard said. “The tour has clearly moved up a gear in its ability to attract the world’s best players. It will certainly help focus the interest of the players throughout the year.”

The 2009 schedule was announced by George O’Grady, the executive director of the PGA European Tour, who has found calm waters in choppy economic times by securing a partnership with Leisurecorp, the owner of Turnberry and golf developments in Dubai, which is putting up the money.

O’Grady said that it is not ideal to have a season running for 13 months but emphasised that the tour is in transition. By 2010 he hopes to have the calendar compressed into 11 months, starting in South Africa in January and finishing in November. He is also encouraged by news that players such as Phil Mickelson, the world No 2, and Vijay Singh are considering joining the tour.

“A lot of them [the leading players] have talked about it and they can see what is happening,” O’Grady said. “None have joined as yet, but we have spoken to Phil Mickelson through his management company. And Vijay [must be] going to do it because he said he’s going to win it.”

There will be 53 tournaments, with 26 destinations including China, India, Malaysia and Australia. Two events - the HSBC Champions tournament and the Hong Kong Open - will be played twice in the same season, which is not satisfactory but is perhaps forgivable in the transitional period, when sponsorship deals have to be honoured.

Ireland, for so long a destination for the tour, is a different problem. A sponsor and venue for the Irish Open, which has been played at Adare Manor in recent years, has yet to be secured and there are also doubts concerning the Seve Trophy, the biennial matchplay event between teams from Great Britain and Ireland and Continental Europe.

Word has it that one venue keen to hold the match is Celtic Manor in Wales, the venue for the Ryder Cup in 2010. It would provide a good dress rehearsal for what lies in store two years from now.