The stats told one story; Sam Burns told another.

Burns hit just over half his fairways, averaged 312 yards and was +0.232 in strokes gained: off the tee in the opening round of the Valspar Championship.

Nothing disproportionate to his season numbers. But following a 2-under 69, Burns was pleased, particularly with his driver.

“Yeah, I've found one that I really like now. Unfortunately, I had one that the USGA failed, and let's see, that was at L.A.,” Burns, who uses Callaway equipment, said Thursday.

“So that was a tough couple weeks, trying to figure out something I like. You come out here and you need something you're comfortable with, especially when the wind starts blowing. So, I shouldn't really have that for a couple weeks, but now I found something I really love, and so I'm excited.”

Asked why his previous driver was deemed non-conforming, Burns said, "They said it failed by one point. So I don't really know what that means. Not a lot of transparency there."

Burns missed the cut at the Genesis Invitational and did the same in his next start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He tied for 35^th last week at The Players.

Now, with a comfortable driver in his hands, Burns is three shots off the early lead in a bid for a third consecutive victory in this event. Steve Stricker is the most recent player to win the same event three straight years, doing so at the John Deere Classic from 2009-11.

With only one top-10 this year, however, Burns isn’t thinking about making history as much as he in finding consistency.

“Not really, to be honest,” Burns said when asked if a three-peat was on his mind. “I think for me, it's just trying to put together a solid week and a lot of winning is out of my control. So, I just try to go out there and play the best that I can and add it up at the end.”