KAHUKU — For all the cash and consternation that goes into the distance a golf ball travels, it is surprising to see how little professional golfers worry about how far they hit. It is also comforting for those short on ... well, size, to see how the game adapts to those who play it.

You don't have to be 6 feet 4 and 200 pounds to send the ball into golf orbit. It helps, but a passing glance at successful players is enough to bury the myth that size matters on the tee.

Lorena Ochoa is a not-so-long 5 feet 6 and very lean 131 pounds. In her successful quest to reach the pinnacle of the women's game last year, only six golfers out-drove her on a regular basis. All but one are here this week for the SBS Open at Turtle Bay, the LPGA's season-opening event that starts today at the resort's Palmer Course.

Ochoa, so thin she practically disappears when she turns sideways, hits the ball nearly 270 yards off the tee — about 15 yards behind Karin Sjodin, the tour's driving distance leader last year as a rookie. Ochoa hardly ever focuses on her driving distance.

"Maybe 15 percent of my practice time," she said with a shrug. "Not much. I'm fit, I do a lot of exercises. That and I changed my driver. My swing stays pretty much the same."

Ochoa credits quick hip rotation for her surprising length. Casey Nakama has worked with many of Hawai'i's best juniors, including 5-foot-1 Tadd Fujikawa and 6-foot-1 Michelle Wie. Nakama believes Fujikawa's hips are also the key to his distance, along with balance brought by his judo background — and an utter fearlessness with his driver.

According to Nakama, the advantage taller players have is that they can maintain a bigger arc and generate more clubhead speed. How does that explain Kimberly Kim's ability to hit 275 yards on a regular basis?

"A lot of it goes back to the fundamentals of golf," said Turtle Bay Director of Golf Matt Hall, one of Kim's early instructors. "I don't know if Kimberly swings any harder, but she creates great leverage. Her swing is very simple. It's a one-piece swing and she creates a lot of leverage with her wrists. She's eliminated the extra stuff."

Kim, a tiny 13-year-old when she moved away from Hilo two years ago, is now 5-4 and 130 pounds. She will play at Turtle Bay this week and in the Fields Open in Hawai'i at Ko Olina next week on exemptions she earned by becoming the youngest U.S. Amateur champion last summer.

Kim could be the longest hitter in her group when she tees off today at 12:30 p.m. Her playing partners the first two rounds are Briana Vega, who earned an exemption by winning the last "Big Break" reality series, and Leta Lindley, who is an inch shorter than "Kim-squared," carries a bag full of woods and is one of the tour's shortest hitters.

Lindley has also won more than $2 million and had two kids over the last 12 years. Karrie Webb won more than $2 million last year and is in the LPGA Hall of Fame. She said yesterday she focuses on her distance "zero" percent of the time and Joo Mi Kim, the defending champion this week, echoed that thought.

Webb, 21st in driving distance last year, concentrates on clubhead speed. All she knows about her length is "I hit it long enough to compete on tour" and she is among the top in reaching par-5 holes in two.

"If I were a short hitter I'd work a bit more on it ...," Webb admitted. "If you're a short hitter, it's impossible to compete consistently."

"Short hitter" should not be confused with "short golfer." Taller players do have a natural advantage, according to Nakama, a small guy who also believes small golfers are forced to have better timing. But increased clubhead speed also accentuates errors.

"One of the greatest things about this game is if you have an edge somewhere it's costing you somewhere else," said Nakama, whose favorite swings might be those of the remarkably accurate Fred Funk and David Ishii. "It's basic physics. If your swing is 125 mph and you mishit the ball by two degrees, it might be gone. If you swing 110 mph and mishit by two degrees, you have a chance to catch the fairway."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.