The change and the omitted hole rule was implemented to handle emergency situations where the player had to leave the course for a time but returned before the end of the round. It was prompted by an incident at USDGC in which a player was called away to deal with an emergency with his child, who was in the care of tournament provided daycare. He left his group for 4-5 holes then once his child was okay, he returned to finish the round. Such a situation seems a fair reason for such a rule. Extending it to cover non-emergency departures kinda rubs me the wrong way.
Is it reasonable to assume it could be used for a bathroom break in a tournament. Its never happened to me during a tournament round, but during some casual rounds when I've been sick this has helped immensely.