That statistic is irrevant to this accident, as he didn't attempt a forced landing - which by definition implies a significant amount of control over the aircrafts flight path. He stalled in whilst attempting a steep turn at extremely low altitude.
As we (should) all know, if you have an EFATO seconds after rotation, you land within 30 degrees of straight ahead.
A turn back is NEVER going to work unless you have at least a few hundred feet to play with, and even then, it's risky - but obviously a justifiable risk if the alternative ahead is more dangerous. However, a controlled ditching in a Cherokee Six is unlikely to be fatal.
I have always been glad that my first instructor demonstrated to me the folly of a turn back with less than 500' AGL on the clock.
I doubt that alcohol or drugs had anything to do with this accident (as the report implied), it was just poor judgement.