Glen and Carl,
I understand what you're saying, but the trucks were in fact present. And he did in fact drop it in a place in which he had no intention of playing from.
P.S. If you read the rule....nowhere does it state that he's entitled to a good lie or a fairway lie when he uses the rule. It only stipulates how the player can take a drop. The fact that he exploited the situation to get an additional free drop is the point...
The player may deem his ball unplayable at any place on the
course, except when the ball is in a
water hazard. The player is the sole judge as to whether his ball is unplayable.
If the player deems his ball to be unplayable, he must,
under penalty of one stroke:
a.
Proceed under the stroke and distance provision of Rule
27-1 by playing a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule
20-5); or
b.
Drop a ball behind the point where the ball lay, keeping that point directly between the
hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind that point the ball may be dropped; or
c.
Drop a ball within two club-lengths of the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the
hole.