There were three scenarios that Phil had to choose from in that situation Saturday.
The first scenario was to play the ball as it lied, after it came to rest, after ramming his initial putt well beyond the hole. Then, if he felt obligated to hold the USGA accountable in his post-round comments - do so. That would've been ideal imo.
The second scenario would've been to simply declare his ball unplayable after the initial putt, go back to where he last struck the ball on the putting green, and with the penalty and 2-club margin of relief under the situation - perhaps saved himself at least a stroke or two. Which likewise would've been fine. And, perhaps, made him look smarter than the USGA in doing so. All within the rules.
The third scenario was to do what he did. Which, imo, was part frustration/part premeditated, in wanting to make the USGA look like the villains.
Except in doing what he did - it backfired.... he basically took the fallout and significantly softened the outcry that should've been explicitly directed toward the USGA and their setup. What he did became a bigger story than the lack of discretion from the USGA regarding setup and hole locations on several holes during a dry and windy afternoon.
Rickie Fowler needed 19 fewer strokes on Sunday (65) than he did on Saturday (84). That is just asinine. But here we are talking about Phil and his idiotic decision to try to 1-up the USGA.
Phil's actions ended up casting a huge shadow over the incompetencies of Mike Davis and his USGA cronies. That's the wort aspect in all of this.