Isztwan, Nicholas make an appointment for a BMW Philadelphia Amateur final at Aronimink

 

   There is nothing more unpredictable than the match-play bracket in a BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship.

   But following the first two rounds of match play Tuesday, there was starting to be an air of inevitability about a Patrick Isztwan-Drue Nicholas final for the 125^th edition of one of the oldest golf competitions in America.

   Maybe not quite Michael McDermott and Jeff Osberg in 2016 at Merion Golf Club, but the two guys playing the most consistent golf held their form through two more rounds of match play Wednesday and that’s what we’ll get Isztwan vs. Nicholas, scheduled for 36 holes Friday at Aronimink Golf Club, home of the 2026 PGA Championship.

   The impeccable Donald Ross design will be a great stage for two really, really good players trying to get their names inscribed on the J. Wood Platt Trophy.

   Their college eligibility has been used up, but as recently as late April they were both teeing it up conference championships, Isztwan as a senior at Richmond in the Atlantic 10 Championship at the Evermore Resort’s Grand Cypress Course in Orlando, Fla. and Nicholas as a senior at Drexel in the Coastal Athletic Association Championship at Union League National Golf Club, not far from where Nicholas grew up at the Jersey Shore.

   And both have been really good in Golf Association of Philadelphia events in the last few years.

   Isztwan will be in the Philly Am final for the second time in three years, having fallen to Mike Crowley of Briarwood Golf Club two years ago with the title on the line at Isztwan’s home course, Huntingdon Valley Country Club. Isztwan was the medalist in qualifying a year ago at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club and North Hills Country Club before falling in the opening round of match play.

   Nicholas put a GAP major title on his resume when he defeated Michael R. Brown Jr. of LuLu Country Club in a playoff to capture the Patterson Cup three summers ago.

   Isztwan got his day off to a great start Wednesday when he ripped off wins at six straight holes on the outgoing nine at Aronimink on his way to a 5 and 4 victory over Dustin Stocksdale, a teammate of Crowley’s at Loyola of Maryland also playing out of Briarwood, in a quarterfinal match.

   Isztwan, who was a scholastic standout at Penn Charter in the Inter-Ac League, won the third and fourth holes with par, the fifth and sixth holes with birdies and the seventh and eighth holes with pars to take a commanding 6-up lead.

   He finished off Stocksdale with a par on the 14^th hole.

   It was more of the same in the afternoon as Isztwan rode a fast start to another 5 and 4 victory, this time over Logan Paczewski, a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Dallas who began his college career at Rutgers before transferring to George Mason.

   After Paczewski, playing out of Huntsville Golf Club, won the first hole with a birdie, Isztwan picked up wins with birdies at the third, fifth and sixth holes, won with a par at the tough par-3 eighth and expanded his lead to 4-up with a birdie at the par-5 ninth. It added up to a sizzling 4-under 31 on Aronimink’s outgoing nine.

   Paczewski had reached the semifinals with a 3 and 2 victory over talented Fieldstone Golf Club mid-am Joseph Tigani in a morning quarterfinal.

   The match of the day came in the morning quarterfinals when Nicholas was taken to the limit by Isztwan’s Huntingdon Valley clubmate, Andy Butler, a former Villanova standout, with Nicholas pulling out a 2-up victory.

   Nicholas picked up wins at the second and seventh holes to grab a 2-up lead. He would never trail, but Butler never went away.

   Butler made a birdie at the ninth hole to cut his deficit to 1-down before Nicholas restored his 2-up advantage by taking the 11^th with a birdie.

   Butler again closed within 1-down by winning the 14^th hole with a par, but never could get even in the match. Nicholas made a birdie at the last to seal the victory.

   Nicholas, a scholastic standout at St. Augustine Prep, pulled away on the back nine at Aronimink on his way to a 3 and 2 victory in his afternoon semifinal match with Evan Eichenlaub, who is transferring to George Washington after competing as an individual from Babson College in last month’s NCAA Division III Championship.

   Nicholas, playing out of Galloway National Golf Club, and Eichenlaub, a two-time PIAA Class AA qualifier as a scholastic standout at Moravian Academy, were even heading to the 10^th tee at Aronimink.

   Nicholas won the 10^th hole with a par and expanded his lead to 3-up by taking the 11^th and 14^th with birdies.

   Eichenlaub, playing out of Saucon Valley Country Club, reached the semifinals with a 3 and 2 victory over Waynesborough Country Club veteran Scott Ehrlich, the 2004 Philly Am champion, in a quarterfinal match Wednesday morning.