Bevacqua began his professional career as a legal associate at Davis Polk and Wardwell LLP in New York City before joining the United States Golf Association (USGA) in 2001. He first served as the USGA's in-house counsel for two years. He was then promoted to USGA's first-ever managing director of the U.S. Open. In 2009, Bevacqua was appointed as the USGA's chief business officer. Bevacqua left USGA for CAA Sports three years later, in 2012, where he served as Global Head of Golf. He was appointed as the CEO of the PGA in fall 2012. He subsequently signed to two contract extensions, one in November 2013 and another in November 2017, which was due to carry him through 2024.[3]
In October 2013, Bevacqua successfully negotiated a 15-year media rights extension through 2030 with NBC Sports for the Ryder Cup, Senior PGA Championship and PGA Professional Championship. In 2014, the PGA designed and implemented a long-term strategic plan that focused on two main goals: to better serve PGA members and to increase public interest in golf. Alan Shipnuck of Golf.com described Bevacqua's vision as, "... growing the game to create more opportunities for PGA pros, embracing new technology to make the membership more relevant, and improving communication with the national headquarters to make the pros feel more valued".[5] Bevacqua was appointed as the World Golf Foundation Board of Directors' Chairman in 2015. In that role he helped the International Golf Federation reinstate golf in the Olympics, beginning with the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In August 2017, Bevacqua announced that, beginning in 2019, the PGA Championship would be conducted annually in May for the first time in 70 years.[6]
In June 2023, Notre Dame president Fr. John I. Jenkins announced that Bevacqua would replace Jack Swarbrick as athletic director in early 2024. Bevacqua served as a special assistant to the president for athletics before officially taking over on March 25.[7]
A former SportsBusiness Journal “Forty Under 40” Award recipient in 2009, Bevacqua was honored with the prestigious “Sports Leadership Award” by the March of Dimes in November 2016.
He is a board member of RISE, an alliance of sports organizations that promotes racial equality. Bevacqua is also on the board of directors of Brunswick School in Greenwich, CT
