Semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) combine strong light-matter interaction with good chemical stability and scalable fabrication techniques, and are thus excellent prospects for optoelectronic, photonic and light-harvesting applications. Controllable fabrication of high-quality TMD monolayers with low defect content is still challenging and hinders their adoption for technological application. The optical properties of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown monolayer MoS$_2$ are largely influenced by the stoichiometry during CVD by controlled sulfurization of molybdenum (Mo) precursors. Here, we investigate how the sulfur concentration influences the sample morphology and, both globally and locally, their optical response. We confirm that samples grown under a Mo:S > 1:2 stoichiometric ratio have regular morphology facilitated by a moderate coverage of triangular monocrystals with excellent optical response. Our data-driven approach correlates growth conditions with crystal morphology and its optical response, providing a practical and necessary pathway to address the challenges towards the controlled synthesis of 2D TMDs and their alloys with desired optical and electronic properties.