That is what I have not understood.
I did not know that you could take a couple steps and drop it there. I have only played a little golf but I thought you had to stand in the same spot.
Hazard drops vary by course. On 15 at Augusta, you can A: drop in a drop zone that is pre marked, and you have wide latitude on where in that zone you can drop, but no closer to the hole than the forward drop line. B: drop in a line where the ball entered the hazard, but no closer to the hole, or C: from the area where you hit the original shot, but no closer to the hole. As you can see, the one common element is “no closer to the hole.” Woods did not do that. Nor did he “improve his lie” by moving from rough to fairway. He was in the fairway to begin with. This rule is an art, not a science.
It’s not a hard break of a fast rule - it’s more like he pushed the limits of it a tad because he wanted a slightly longer shot. It deserves a penalty, but the rule is not so clear cut and the violation not so clear cut as to deserve DQ.