England sweeps US women at International Crown

6:19 PM ET

GURNEE, Ill. — For the United States and Taiwan, the first session of the UL International Crown was a repeat of the first day of the inaugural event two years ago.

Each country is hoping for a better weekend.

The U.S. lost both of its four-ball matches to England, and Yani Tseng helped Taiwan sweep Australia on Thursday in the rare team event on the LPGA Tour.

Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr lost 2 and 1 to Holly Clyburn and Jodi Ewart Shadoff, and Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller fell to Charley Hull and Melissa Reid by the same score. Thompson, Kerr and Lewis also were on the American team that was swept on the first day of the first International Crown in 2014 and finished sixth.

“That’s what this format is. You play good golf and you’re going to lose matches, and that’s the way it goes,” Lewis said. “We’re going to go out there and play good golf again, and hopefully we get on the good side of it. We’re still in this thing, and we’ve just got to take care of business tomorrow.”

Lexi Thompson of the United States hits her tee shot on the third hole during the four-ball session of the 2016 UL International Crown. The U.S. team were swept by England. Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Next up is two more days of four-ball matches at the sprawling Merit Club about 40 miles northwest of Chicago. The top two teams in each pool and the winner of wild-card playoff between the third-place teams will advance to the singles matches Sunday, with each player from the winning country taking home $100,000 apiece.

With the course set …

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