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Jimmy Dunne, a PGA Tour board member credited with helping to broker the merger with LIV Golf, issued a surreal threat for if he finds evidence that any of the Saudi Arabia nationals he was involved in negotiations with had a role in planning the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
LIV Golf is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Dunne, speaking to Golf Channel on Thursday afternoon, vowed to kill anyone who “unequivocally was involved with it” himself.
“Every day, the first thing that I think about is [Sept. 11]; several times during the day, I think about it; and the last thing I think about at night is that,” Dunne began.
“That has not changed since that day. And I’m not alone in that. I would guarantee that every one of those family members has that same condition. It is just a reality of how unbelievably sad and awful that day was.
“I understand that. And 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. And if someone can find someone that unequivocally was involved with it, I’ll kill them myself. We don’t have to wait around.”
As previously covered by Sports Illustrated, Dunne worked on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center at investment bank Sandler O’Neill.
Dunne was out of the office playing a golf tournament on Sept. 11, but many of his colleagues weren’t so lucky; 66 of the company’s 171 employees perished in the attack.
Families of victims of Sept. 11 told The Post’s Peter Botte they felt “completely betrayed” by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who last year took veiled shots at LIV Golf over Saudis’ alleged involvement in the attacks, but turned around and made a big-money deal with them anyway.
In his Golf Channel appearance, Dunne advocated for putting aside differences to prevent future tragedies.
Everything to know about the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger
PGA Tour and LIV Golf are ending a war — by joining forces.
The two golf leagues, along with the European DP World Tour, are merging into one company after a period of fierce rivalry, one where LIV Golf defectors were banned from competing on the Tour.
LIV, financed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and led by legendary golfer Greg Norman, lured some of the top names in golf last year with reported nine-figure contracts, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
Other huge golf names, however, like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, stayed loyal to the Tour, despite being offered a massive amount of money.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger
Norman said last year Woods turned down a payday in the range of $700 million-$800 million to stick with the PGA Tour.
With the merger, the Saudi-backed LIV and the Tour are ending an antitrust battle and agreed to end all litigation between the two sides.
“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “This transformational partnership recognizes the immeasurable strength of the PGA TOUR’s history, legacy and pro-competitive model.”
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“But the reality of it is, is that we need to come together as a people. Even our country. We have too much divisiveness. And at some point in time — whether it’s our view of the Japanese, or our view of the Germans — there is a point in time where you have to say, ‘let’s try to get to know one another. Let’s try to understand, let’s try to demonstrate by example,’ ” Dunne continued.
“Now, I’m not taking a stance on any country, and whatever their positions on what I’m trying to say is, I believe that we should not run away from our differences. And we should get to know each other and basically make it difficult, so that we don’t have to have a family deal with what we dealt with 20 years ago. As awful as it was for me, it was way worse for other people.
“I can’t imagine … if one of my children were involved. So, I have a real empathy about it, but I’d like to do something about it. And I’d like to make sure that some other poor guy who just goes to work one day, doesn’t have to go through what we went through.
“It starts with communicating with people all around the world, and I’d like to do my part with that.”
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