Don Yrene: The head pro at the Golf Club Scottsdale came up big in last week’s PGA Professional National Championship at Verona, N.Y., earning his first trip ever to the upcoming PGA Championship in August at Medinah Country Club near Chicago. Yrene’s 4-under-par total at Turning Stone Resort and Casino was good enough for a tie for eighth place, and $14,500 in prize money.

“It’s a huge opportunity for me, to play in my first major with all the big-timers like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els,’’ said Yrene, who shot rounds of 70-69-82-72 to finish six shots behind the eventual winner, Ron Philo of White Plains, N.Y. “And to get to play a course like Medinah Country Club, one of the best courses in the history of golf, that makes it even better.’’

A lot of people here in Arizona were rooting hard for Yrene. “We think it’s just great, because Donnie has been our premiere player for the past three or four years,’’ said Kathy Wilkes, the executive director of the Southwest Section of the PGA. “For him to be one of 20 (club pros) who punched his ticket to the PGA, well, he’s very deserving.’’

Without question, Yrene has been “da man’’ in Arizona golf at the club level for some time now. He has won pretty much everything he’s gone after recently, which is why he has claimed SWPGA player of the year honors during the past three years. And his game seems to be getting better and better, as evidenced by his tie for 30 th place in the Chrysler Classic of Tucson earlier this year.

“I suppose I’m supposed to say that I’d love to make the cut at the PGA,’’ he mused. “But I’m 39 years old now, I’ve got three little kids at home, and want to do a little better than that, to see where I can take this.’’

And, no, he’s not necessarily aspiring for a spot on the PGA Tour, a goal he held on to until a couple of years ago, he said. “Unless something unforeseen happens, I’m not pursuing that (goal). I guess there’s not as much pressure as there once was, because I’m really enjoying the fact that I’m getting better, and I’m not trying to get somewhere else.’’

Yrene said the key to his stellar play last week was his putter and patience. “I played really steady, and I made the putts I needed to, especially from eight feet and in.’’ And he hopes to carry that hot hand over to this week, as he is the defending champion in the SWPGA’s Match Play Championship that concludes Friday at Southern Dunes Golf Club near Maricopa.

Asked to rank his latest feat, he said the 30 th place finish in Tucson was “probably No. 1, but this was a very close No. 2. It’s left me in a good place, and I’m really, really excited about getting a chance to play in the PGA.’’

NOTEWORTHY

Senior moment: John Chaffee of Scottsdale and Bill Dodd and Bob Mann of Phoenix have qualified to play in the U.S. Senior Open, which will be held July 6-9 at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan. Already exempt for the national championship are East Valley pros R.W. Eaks, Hale Irwin, John Jacobs, Tom Purtzer and Tom Weiskopf.

Big break: Scottsdale pro Laura London has earned a spot in The Golf Channel’s upcoming “Big Break VI: Trump National.’’ London, who is filming the series this week and was unavailable for comment, will compete against nine women and nine men in what TGF is billing as its “largest and most diverse’’ field in the history of the Big Break series. According to her bio, the 25-year-old London played the Futures Tour from 1999-2001 after going straight from high school to the pro ranks.

First cut: Amanda Blumenherst, the Duke All-American and women’s college player of the year from Scottsdale, tied for 17 th in last week’s Wegmans Classic in Pittsford, N.Y. It was Blumenherst’s second LPGA event, and the first cut she has made. Had she been a pro, Blumenherst, who is entered in this week’s U.S. Women’s Open, would have earned $22,176.

Very hot: Hot Stix Golf of Scottsdale will partner with NBC Sports to be the exclusive fitting service for the 17 th annual American Century Celebrity Golf Classic, which takes place in Lake Tahoe on July 11-16. Among those getting “fitted’’ by Hot Stix personnel will be Michael Jordan, Donald Trump, Charles Barkley and John Elway.

For more information, visit www.tahoecelebritygolf.com or www.hotstixgolf.com.