Bethpage Black to host Ryder Cup and PGA Championship

The PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup are coming to Bethpage Black, a source familiar with the two top golf events told Newsday.

The PGA will be held at the state's crown jewel course in 2019 and the Ryder Cup will be held in 2024, Golfweek magazine reported Monday night. An announcement could come Tuesday, Golfweek said, although Newsday's source said only that the news would be made public soon.

During the just-concluded PGA Champ-ionship at Oak Hill Country Club in upstate Rochester, the two top officials of the PGA of America were very bullish on the Black Course, which has held two U.S. Opens and a PGA Tour FedEx Cup event in the past 11 years. Neither Pete Bevacqua, the CEO of the association and a state native, nor president Ted Bishop would say that the major championship and top international match would be coming to Long Island, but both were hopeful that negotiations with state officials would produce an agreement.

Bishop, who has made Bethpage one of the priorities of his two-year term, said: "Pete and I played there the first week in June. 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."

Bevacqua, who worked for the U.S. Golf Association when it was preparing to bring the U.S. Open to the municipal facility in 2002, said: "Bethpage is a special place. You know that I'm an unbelievable fan of the Black Course. I don't think it's any secret that we've had some great conversations with the state of New York."

The PGA Championship in Rochester last week strengthened the relationship between the tournament and New York. Champion Jason Dufner will be honored Tuesday on the 86th floor observatory of the Empire State Building.

As intriguing and intense as the Opens have been at the Black Course -- despite heavy rains both times -- tour players and local pros have repeatedly said they can only imagine what a Ryder Cup would be like at the site that is known for its passionate, raucous fans.

SEE PHOTOS2013 New York State Open at Bethpage Black

Keegan Bradley, a standout for the U.S. team at the Ryder Cup last year who considers the Black his favorite course after having played it regularly when he was at St. John's, Monday night tweeted: "Ryder Cup to Bethpage Black in 2024. WOW. That will be insane."