I think he wise not to move the chair. A provisional doesn't let you do just anything. For example, if a player threw a provisional, then cut down a tree and threw another provisionally, they would still get the penalty for damaging the course no matter which throw ended up being counted.
Similarly, I believe courtesy violation would be enforced even if it occurred during a series of provisional throws that were later ignored.
I can see why he would have been concerned that the penalty for moving an object might be one of those that isn't wiped out by the provisional rule.
I'm not saying he would have gotten a penalty for moving the chair, just that he was smart to be cautious.