The whole golf world and many non-golf fans are still processing the massive unification between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Many find the whole alliance disturbing and perceive it to be a blatant show of disrespect to all the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This latest revelation is likely to further abhor the ardent objectors.

James Dunne III, a Wall Street titan and independent director on the PGA's policy board since January, is the man credited with initiating talks between commissioner Jay Monahan and Saudia Arabia's Public Investment Fund. He helped put the wheels in motion on this historic and polarizing merger, despite losing 64 employees and two business partners with whom he had close relationships in the unspeakable attacks on New York's Twin Towers, per ESPN.

Dunne would have been present in the South Tower at the offices of Sandler O'Neill and Partners on September 11, 2001 had he not been trying to qualify for the U.S.-Mid Amateurs. The majority of the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. This unfathomable union between the PGA Tour and LIV, which was rife with tension and character attacks, might not have been possible without Dunne sending a WhatsApp message to PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan in April.

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“What I always felt is that I didn't understand what the LIV Tour was really trying to accomplish,” he told ESPN's Mark Schlabach. “And so at some point in time, between the legal expense and them basically recruiting our players, I thought it was important that we would speak to the main guy and not to anybody else.”

After meeting with Al-Rumayyan, Dunne later convinced Monahan to move forward in negotiations. He firmly believes that this is the best course of action for the sport. However, he says that no amount of money would have have persuaded him to urge the PGA Tour to go into business with people he believes responsible for the most heinous attack America has ever endured.

“I am quite certain — and I have had conversations with a lot of very knowledgeable people — that the people I'm dealing with had nothing to do with it,” Dunne said. “If someone can find someone who unequivocally was involved with it, I'll kill them myself.”