LEE Westwood says Europe’s best golfers are expecting great North-East support as the tour prepares to return to the region for the first time in more than a decade.

The former world number one and tournament host will line up alongside the likes of Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Danny Willett when the British Masters gets underway at Close House on Thursday.

listen to ‘Paul Fraser talk about Paul Fraser chats with Graeme Storm’ on Audioboom

Westwood, who opened the Colt Course in 2011, admits he is “delighted” the event – the first European Tour event held in the North-East since 2002 – is about to get underway.

“There should be good support for all the lads – it will be nice to see some friendly faces in the crowd,” said Westwood.

“They do support their sporting events really well in the North East, whether it be the watching Newcastle or Sunderland play, or coming out for the Great North Run.

“It is great for the area that people are going to get the chance to see the world’s best players in a week’s golf.”

Westwood admitted it had been a “long road in the making”, but after almost three years of preparation, he said it was nice to “get back to being a golfer”.

“I have started hitting the ball really well. - I came ninth in the Czech Republic and played well last week in Switzerland.

“I feel like a run is just round the corner. I hope it will be this week, but it will be great wherever it comes.”

Tommy Fleetwood announced on Tuesday he had pulled out of the tournament due to the impeding birth of his first child, but despite the absence of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai leader, Westwood maintains the field is one of the “strongest we have had on the European tour all year”.

Among those is McIlroy, who gave a first indication that he would compete in the tournament at Garcia’s wedding earlier this year, according to Westwood.

“He told me if he wasn’t playing in the Tour Championships, he would think seriously about playing here.

“I know people say he has been struggling, but he sets pretty high standards for himself. I haven’t noticed he’s been struggling – he’s is one of the few plays in the world that I would turn out at a golf tournament to watch.

Westwood will tee off on Thursday lunchtime with Garcia and Swedish defending champion Alex Noren.

“The course is in fantastic condition – leaves are starting to change colour and we are never short of rain here so the fairways are nice and green, and the greens are in fantastic condition,” said Westwood.

“I concentrated on getting the best players here and I think we’ve done that.”

But Westwood maintains his knowledge and experience of the course will not be an advantage.

“Everyone says you must know the course really well, but when you turn up on a Saturday morning with your mates, you are going to play a bit differently to when you play the tournament.

“I am going to go round the golf course and really clear my mind and approach it like I have never seen the course before,” he added.

Garcia himself admitted he was enjoying his time in the North-East, and the current Masters champion described his chances of winning as “solid”.

“It is a beautiful part of the world - I walked around Newcastle the other night and there was some nice restaurants and beautiful buildings. Hopefully the weather behaves itself for the rest of the week.”

“It has been a great year – it is always excited to come back to the UK and play in front of this crowd.

“I have always said they are the best people to play in front of, not just for their support but how much they know about the game and how respectful they are.

“Obviously after the Masters I had a bit of a downer, but the last few weeks I have seen some good things in my game”

Despite his optimism, both the Spaniard and Noren were more cautious when describing the conditions at Close House.

“I played the back nine, it is a bit tricky – it is quite hilly, so you have to be very comfortable with the lines of the tees, and the greens have got a lot of movement – they are not fast,” said Garcia.

Noren added: “I saw a few holes coming in, and it looks like fairways are quite wide, and the greens look pretty tricky, a lot of run offs. I know it is hilly but I am going to have a good go at it.”