Ernie Els names one golf rule he'd change: "I know this is very controversial"

Multiple major champion Ernie Els has revealed the one golf rule he would change. 

The former world number one believes players should be able to clean mud off their golf balls from the fairway. 

Els, a four-time major champion, shared his view in a video published by Icons Series.

The Big Easy, 57, said he cannot understand why players must accept the consequences of a mud-covered ball. 

"There's a couple of rules in golf I'd like to change," he said.

"I think when you hit the ball down the fairway and you have mud on your ball; I don't like that. 

"You've just hit a perfect drive down the middle and you have mud on your ball.

"And I know this is very controversial. 

"People making the rules will probably never change that rule, but I just feel that, like, why?"

Mud balls can dramatically alter a shot's flight, direction and spin. 

The issue has long frustrated other leading professionals, too.

Scottie Scheffler voiced similar concerns at last year's PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. 

The American was unhappy that preferred lies were not permitted during the opening round.

Scheffler argued that hitting the fairway only to find mud on the ball left players unable to predict where their next shot would go.

"It's one of those deals where it's frustrating to hit the ball in the middle of the fairway and get mud on it and have no idea where it's going to go," said Scheffler.

"I understand it's part of the game, but there's nothing more frustrating for a player. 

He added: "You spend your whole life trying to learn how to control a golf ball, and due to a rules decision all of a sudden you have absolutely no control over where that golf ball goes."

Els made his comments while preparing to captain Team South Africa at the inaugural Icons Cup, scheduled for December.