Tiger Woods will have his own brand of sports drink next year, Gatorade announced Tuesday.

It is the world No. 1 golfer's first licensing agreement.

According to the announcement, Gatorade will introduce "Gatorade Tiger" next March, with more products to follow.

Woods even chose the flavors himself. The drink in a cherry blend, citrus blend and grape will be available first.

Terms of the deal were unclear, but a magazine named Golf Week reported earlier that the deal has been in the works since the summer and the company could pay Woods as much as US$100 million, moving him closer to the US$1 billion mark in career endorsements.

Woods said in a statement: "I'm eager to launch my first signature product in a few months and look forward to developing additional sports performance beverages with Gatorade in the coming years."

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2007)