The 2026 Alzheimer’s Awareness Open at Farmington Hills Golf Club in Farmington handed out one of the cleanest, most commanding victories of the Mulligan Tour season Saturday afternoon — and it came from a player who has been building toward exactly this kind of performance all spring. Helen Puffenberger wins the 2026 AAO at net 65 (-6), her first individual victory of the 2026 season, with a round that checked every box from the first tee to the final green. Seven birdies. One eagle. Seventy-one percent fairways. Sixty-one percent greens in regulation. A gross 78 split evenly down the middle — 39 and 39 — and a net total that nobody in a talented field could match. Perfect weather, a perfect day, a deserving champion.
The race to catch her was real, and Jeff Pasz ran it as hard as anyone could. Eight birdies — the most of any player in the field — kept him in the conversation all afternoon and brought him to the final two holes with a legitimate chance at the title. Then the 17th hole happened. A bogey where he needed par, and suddenly the math changed. Pasz stood on the 18th tee needing eagle to tie. He made birdie. Net 66 (-5), second place, $24. Eight birdies in a round that finishes one stroke behind the winner is a performance that deserves better luck than it got on hole 17 — and Pasz can hold his head up for the quality of golf he played Saturday at Farmington Hills.
Third place belongs to Mike Attard and Eric Birkle, tied at net 68 (-3), and both of those rounds have their own story. Attard delivered one of the most consistent scorecards in the field — seven birdies, two eagles, and 61% greens in regulation across 18 holes. Clean, productive, and the kind of performance that holds up at Farmington Hills. Birkle’s round read like a tale of two nines. His front nine gross of 36 had him sitting five under par at the turn — as hot as anyone in the field and looking like the tournament was his to lose. Then the back nine asked questions he couldn’t answer, four bogeys unraveling what the front nine had built. He still posted five birdies and two eagles for the day, still walked away with a share of third and a $13.50 check, and still gave the gallery a front nine worth watching.
Tom W. Litzler and Chuck Withey each carded net 69 (-2) to share fifth — and the Litzler finish deserves its own paragraph. Tom W. co-sponsors this event alongside his son Tom R., puts his name and his resources behind the Alzheimer’s Association cause every year, and on Saturday he went out and finished fifth at his own tournament. Tom R. tied for seventh at net 70 (-1) with Jonathan Barnes and Mike Lee. Both Litzlers in the money, on the day they sponsored, at the tournament they built. That’s a Mulligan Tour Saturday.
Barnes shot a gross 72 — the best gross score in the field — which continues a frustrating 2026 pattern of putting up elite ball-striking numbers and not quite getting the net result to match. Defending champion Mike Lee tied for seventh and kept his name on the Farmington Hills leaderboard after winning here in 2025. Scott Wilsey, still riding his Irish Open form, tied for tenth at net 73.
The CTP competition on all five par 3s found five worthy winners: Birkle, Barnes, Rod Theunissen, Puffenberger, and Pasz each stuck an approach close enough to claim one. Five sharp iron shots on five par 3 holes, spread across five different players — the kind of distribution that tells you the field was locked in at Farmington Hills on Saturday afternoon.
The 2026 Alzheimer’s Awareness Open raised $1,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association — every mulligan purchased, every $5 contribution built into the entry fee doing its part for a cause that affects millions of families. The Mulligan Tour thanks Tom W. Litzler and Tom R. Litzler for their continued sponsorship of this event and for making that number possible. The tournament is better because they’re behind it.
