U.S. Ryder Cup team hires golf media’s Justin Ray to lead analytics department

Jim Furyk found his new analytics team, and it includes one of golf media’s most recognizable stats voices.

The U.S. Ryder Cup team has hired Justin Ray and Hunter Stewart to lead its data analytics operation ahead of the 2027 matches at Adare Manor, according to Golfweek, replacing Scouts Consulting Group, which had supported U.S. teams across international competitions since 2016.

Ray currently writes for The Athletic and serves as Head of Content for Twenty First Group, a sports intelligence agency that works with players, broadcasters, manufacturers, and media. He spent six years as a senior researcher at ESPN and five more at Golf Channel before that, building a reputation as the person golf broadcasters and reporters turn to when they need an obscure record verified on the spot. He also previously worked with Stacy Lewis’s U.S. Solheim Cup teams in 2023 and ’24.

Honored. Thankful. Already hard at work. https://t.co/pJJf4HHpNJ

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) June 16, 2026

Justin Leonard is the one who put Ray on Furyk’s radar, having seen his work up close during his days at Golf Channel, according to Golfweek’s Adam Schupak. Furyk also called Stacy Lewis directly, since Ray had worked with her U.S. Solheim Cup teams, and the two crossed paths separately at a corporate outing for a data analytics company, where Furyk came away thinking they shared a similar approach to using information.

“I think there’s a lot of stones to be unturned,” Furyk told ESPN in May, when asked specifically about the U.S. team’s struggles with analytics. “We need to create more continuity for our players and for our future captains.”

The Ray and Stewart hire is one of the first concrete steps toward that, with the Americans still chasing their first win on European soil since 1993. Furyk’s first Ryder Cup captaincy in 2018 ended in a 17.5-10.5 blowout loss in France, and the U.S. side has lost three of the last four overall, including a lopsided defeat at Bethpage Black last fall despite having home-course advantage and a heavily favored roster on paper.

Furyk’s own broadcasting work this year offers some insight into why he values having sharp analytical minds in the room. USA Network brought him back as an analyst for the U.S. Open and Open Championship earlier this month, continuing a trial run that began with Golf Channel earlier this season, with USA airing early-round and lead-in coverage for both majors before NBC takes over the broadcast. In addition to the two major championships, Furyk will join Golf Channel for the Travelers Championship later this month and the Tour Championship in August, when the PGA Tour crowns its season-long champion.