"Golfer makes save in Bella Vista lake"

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What an incredible act of life-saving by Ana Paula Valdes and reporting by the Northwest Arkansas Gazette’s Chip Souza, who documents an incredible story reminiscent of Mary Bea Porter-King saving a drowning boy a 1988 qualifier.

In a nutshell, Valdes, playing in a Women’s All Pro Tour event, saved someone from drowning.

Please hit the link and read it all, but a snippet:

Valdes said she looked out into the lake and saw a person floating face down about 30 feet from shore. Kathy King said the momentum of the cart traveling down the embankment, then slamming into a tree likely caused the woman to be propelled through the front of the golf cart and into the lake.

“I said, ‘Oh my god, that’s the lady,’ ” Valdes said. “So I jumped in the water and started swimming her way. I finally got to her and I tried putting her face up against my chest. I was swimming because I could not touch the bottom. It was deeper than I could stand.

“So I was swimming, trying to keep her face out of the water. I was trying to wake her up because she was unconscious. I kept saying, ‘you’re OK, you’re OK.’ ”

The story doesn’t end on a perfect note. Golfweek’s Beth Ann Baldry followed up with Valdes, who was understandably unable to focus on her golf.

Valdes, who turned pro in mid-May, played one round of the tournament, shot 76, and then decided to withdraw. Fellow Mexican Maria Fassi leads the event after three rounds by three strokes over Kelly Whaley, daughter of Suzy Whaley. Top junior Alexa Pano and Lauren Hartlage are six strokes back.

“The whole experience was very overwhelming for me,” Valdes told Golfweek. “No necessarily in a bad way, but a lot of emotions going through my head, my heart and my mind. I just couldn’t get my head straight for the tournament.”

There’s been quite a bit of swooning at this week’s Travelers Championship about players pulling out after possible COVID-19 exposure, and while their moves were noble, I’d say Ms. Valdes is deserving of an equal amount of praise/empathy/future invite or four.