It was Tiger's statement that got him the penalty. His drop was close enough to where he hit the original shot from, that he was not going to get any penalty. But when Tiger made the statement that he intentionally dropped the ball a yard or two further back, that was what got him the penalty. It was the "intent" that got him the penalty.
There are situations (like when a ball goes directly in the water) where a player is allowed to drop as far back as he wants. But in this case where the ball was on dry land on the other side of the water, before it went in the water, then the player does not have the choice to go back as far as he wants.
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