It’s looking like Bethpage Black won’t have to wait too long to get back on golf’s main stage.
The rugged course on Long Island is close to finalizing a deal to hold the 2019 PGA Championship and the 2024 Ryder Cup, The Post confirmed. There was no immediate scheduled announcement, as negotiations are still on-going, although there is little chance of them falling through. It is believed the PGA of America, which runs the two high-profile events, and the New York State Parks system, which runs Bethpage State Park, have at least agreed in principle.
The deals were first reported by Golfweek magazine on Monday, one day after the Jason Dufner won the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in Rochester, New York. As one of golf’s four major championships, it is one of the most coveted events.
Yet it’s the Ryder Cup, the immensely popular biennial international team competition, which has drawn the most interest. After finishing tied for 72nd last week, fan-favorite Phil Mickelson said the venue in Farmingdale will give the Americans a “distinct” advantage over the Europeans, who have won six of the last eight Ryder Cups.
“I love it,” said Mickelson, who was runner up in each of the U.S. Opens at the Black, in 2002 and 2009, and drew huge cheers from the immense crowds. “I’ve been quietly hoping it would go there for years. It’s the perfect site.”
The reaction from St. John’s alumnus (and 2011 PGA champion) Keegan Bradley came on twitter Monday night, when he wrote: “Ryder Cup to Bethpage Black in 2024. WOW. That will be insane.”
Officials from the PGA of America would not make any declaration about the Black last week, but were happy to say how much they loved the golf course.
“Bethpage Black is very much on our radar screen,” PGA President Ted Bishop said. “The PGA is highly interested in having a Ryder Cup and a PGA Championship there. We feel it’s a golf course that’s worthy of both. We’ve been interested in Bethpage going back to 2009.”
The Post reported in August of last year that negotiations were happening between the PGA and the state, and that the two sides were close to a deal. The last time the Ryder Cup was in the New York-Metropolitan area was 1935, when the newly minted matches were played at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey.
The Ryder Cup will be played next year in Gleneagles in Scotland, and the two upcoming American sites are Hazeltine in Minnesota in 2016 and Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in 2020.
The Black will hold the 2016 Barclays, a PGA Tour FedEx Cup event, and once the deal with the PGA goes through, the state won’t sign on for the following opportunity, in 2020. That event is starting next Thursday, Aug. 22, at Liberty National in Jersey City.
bcyrgalis@nypost.com