Full name is Ryan James Manke, but the shortened name "RJ" is partly tied to Vijay Singh, who won the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club in Redmond, Washington the same day RJ was born roughly an hour drive away; the name Ryan just didn't stick with his parents, and they couldn't get Vijay out of their heads, so they eventually adopted the shortened name of RJ.

A self-described feel player who hasn't taken a lesson since high school and hates looking at his swing on video.

His home course in Lakewood, Washington -- Tacoma Country & Golf Club -- was where the Putnam brothers (Andrew and Michael) honed their games growing up in Tacoma, Washington before they reached the PGA TOUR.

Earliest golf memories were chipping contests at Tacoma Country & Golf Club with Joe Highsmith, a future teammate at Pepperdine University and fellow Korn Ferry Tour member; they frequently spent all day at the golf club with their older brothers as kids, and today if they are all together they will play a round and follow it with a pickleball match.

Travels with pickleball paddles and finds local courts when traveling on the road for tournaments.

Favorites include Dumb and Dumber (movie), The Office (TV show), Led Zeppelin (musical artist), teriyaki (food), and snow skiing (sport other than golf).

Cites Roger Federer as his athletic role model.

Grew up attending University of Washington football games.

RJ and his family hosted David Hearn for the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.

Parents, Mike and Claire, both graduated from (and met each other at) University of Washington. RJ's brother, Brett, and sister, Jane, also graduated from Washington.

Finished No. 4 in the Class of 2022 PGA TOUR University Ranking, earning Korn Ferry Tour access into remaining open-field events for the season and an exemption to Final Stage of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament.

Played four seasons at Pepperdine University (2017-21) and earned his bachelor's degree in business administration (with a 3.65 grade point average) before he transferred to University of Washington for the 2021-22 season.

2022 Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year and All-America First Team selection.

Won two individual titles at Pepperdine and two at Washington. Also broke Washington's single-season scoring average record with a 69.32, eclipsing PGA TOUR winner C.T. Pan's record of 69.89 from 2014-15.

2019 All-West Coast Conference First Team selection.

A member of Pepperdine's national title-winning team at the 2021 NCAA Championships, but only played in one round of stroke play.

Won the 2018 and 2021 Washington State Amateur Championships; he and Joel Dahmen (2007 winner) both won titles at Gold Mountain Golf Club.