• Tyrrell Hatton and other big names likely to follow

• Tour filed for bankruptcy after Saudi funding withdrawn

Confirmation that Jon Rahm will play no part in LIV Golf in its post-Saudi Arabian form is likely to be only the start of a mass exodus from the breakaway circuit.

A bankruptcy hearing on Wednesday heard Rahm’s lawyer say “unacceptable” terms proposed by LIV 2.0 mean the Spaniard will shortly walk away from a tour which has lingering hopes of continuing as a going concern. Rahm’s departure from LIV, which he joined in 2023, was inevitable, but still a significant blow and moment in time given his status in his sport.

BMW has opened the US order books for its hotly anticipated new 3 Series sedan. Built on an all-new platform called Neue Klasse, it now offers a fully electric version for the first time, using BMW’s advanced sixth-generation electric powertrain we liked so much in the iX3. And for those not quite ready to make the switch from liquid hydrocarbons to pure electron power, there are also a pair of gasoline-powered variants.

At launch, the only electric version will be the 2027 BMW i3 50 xDrive. It’s an all-wheel drive setup, with a combined 463 hp (345 kW) and 467 lb-ft (633 Nm). And while BMW is still putting the finishing touches on the car’s EPA certification ahead of its showroom arrival in Q1 next year, it expects 446 to 468 miles (718-753 km) of range on a single charge. Contributing to that very impressive range is the new cylindrical cell battery pack, which uses a cell-to-body approach that maximizes energy density, along with the aforementioned new sixth-gen motors.

We’re not sure whether BMW is planning any single-motor, rear-wheel drive i3s for the US market, such as the i4 eDrive40 we liked so much. But later next year, we can expect the i3 M60 xDrive, and then the first completely electric BMW M3, which will increase the motor count to four—one for each wheel.

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