Bethpage Black gets double nod as host

Bethpage Black will host the 2019 US PGA and the 2024 Ryder Cup, according to reports.

The two-time US Open host has long been considered the perfect venue for a Ryder Cup with its big stage likely to give the United States a boost.

Phil Mickelson, who would be 54 in 2024 and a possible captain candidate, said at this year’s PGA that the boisterous crows would give the Americans a “distinct” advantage. The 2002 US Open, won by Tiger Woods, featured some of the most vocal and colourful galleries ever seen at a golf event.

“I love it,” Mickelson said. “I’ve been quietly hoping it would go there for years. It’s the perfect site.”

“I think taking a major sporting event like the Ryder Cup to what I would arguably say is the greatest sports city in the United States in New York would be a phenomenal combination,” PGA president Ted Bishop said without confirming the report.

“It’s a mammoth venue, and you’ve got a lot of possibilities for infrastructure and being able to handle crowds and the stadium-golf concept. I could give you 100 reasons why I think Bethpage certainly is very high on our radar as it relates to a Ryder Cup.”

The Ryder Cup will be played at Gleneagles in Scotland next September – and the race to make Paul McGinley’s European Team begins at the Wales Open in two weeks time.

In Europe, the 2018 Ryder Cup goes to France and Le Club National near Paris, while future US sites are Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minnesota in 2016 and Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin in 2020.

The Ryder Cup was last held in the metropolitan area at New Jersey’s Ridgewood Country Club in 1935.