Bethpage Black remains an option for PGA Championship and Ryder Cup

Bethpage still is very much "on the radar" for the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup, just not yet on the schedule. The association's top executives on Wednesday both gave kudos to the Black Course and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration, but added that nothing has been decided about bringing two of golf's biggest events to the state park.

"Bethpage is a special place. You know that I'm an unbelievable fan of the Black Course," Pete Bevacqua, the CEO of the PGA of America, and a Bedford, N.Y., native, said in an interview. "I think it's one of the great golf courses in the world. I don't think it's any secret that we've had some great conversations with the state of New York, but at this point, anything would be very premature. Nothing has been decided."

But he did speak about the state the way someone would talk about a good partner. At the start of his remarks at the association's news conference here on the eve of this year's PGA Championship, Bevacqua made it a point to say, "I think it's absolutely worth noting that the reception we've had from the state of New York and Governor Cuomo's office [is] almost unprecedented support."

Future sites for the PGA are set through 2018. The next available date for a U.S.-based Ryder Cup is 2024.

PGA president Ted Bishop mentioned the strong working relationship with the state this week at Oak Hill Country Club, which is a private club. He added, "I would say that Bethpage is very much on the radar of the PGA of America, not only for the PGA Championship, but also the Ryder Cup.

"Pete and I played there the first week in June," he said. "Every time I am at Bethpage, I love the place even more. So I would hope that we'd be able to get this thing figured out sooner or later because I think it would be good for the PGA of America and I think it would be great for the state of New York and Bethpage."