If you’ve ever stood over a four-foot par putt while the wind is whipping off the Florida coast, you know that golf is basically a game of millimeters. For Kai Trump, those millimeters started becoming a massive problem in late 2025. While most of the headlines lately have been buzzing about her recent wrist surgery in early 2026, the real story for many gearheads and golf junkies is how she’s been battling kai trump golf vision issues that nearly derailed her putting game entirely.
Honestly, it’s a nightmare scenario for any scratch golfer. You have the swing speed. You have the coaching from guys like Bryson DeChambeau. But suddenly, the hole looks like it’s moving.
The Vlog That Started the Conversation
Back in August 2025, Kai dropped a vlog that felt surprisingly raw for someone in such a high-profile family. She wasn’t talking about the White House or her grandfather’s latest rally. She was talking about her eyes. Specifically, she admitted that she "hadn't been putting well recently" because she literally couldn't see out of her contacts.
"I stopped putting well when my eyesight got really bad," she told her followers. That’s a heavy confession for a kid who just committed to the University of Miami and is trying to prove she belongs on the LPGA stage.
The specific culprit? Astigmatism. Kai explained that she has an astigmatism in one eye that makes focusing feel like a camera that just won't lock onto a subject. If you’ve ever played golf, you know that "reading the green" isn't just a figure of speech. It’s about depth perception and seeing the subtle breaks in the grass. When your vision is blurry, the "read" is just a guess.
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Dealing with Prescription Shifts
After that eye doctor visit in August, Kai found out her prescription had "gotten so much worse." It’s common for teenagers, sure, but for a competitive athlete, it’s a crisis.
- She ended up purchasing new glasses and specialized lenses.
- She experimented with different contact lens brands to handle the astigmatism.
- The goal was simple: stop guessing where the hole was.
But here is where things get complicated.
Vision isn't just about clarity; it's about how your brain processes the target. When Kai played in The Annika—her LPGA debut in November 2025—she struggled. She finished last. People were quick to jump on her scores (83 and 75), but few looked at the data. She only hit seven greens in regulation during one round. When you're missing greens and your vision makes putting a gamble, you’re going to post big numbers.
Is Surgery the Next Step?
While she just had surgery on her left wrist in January 2026 to fix a torn ECU tendon and fibrocartilage complex, the "vision quest" hasn't actually ended. Many athletes in her position eventually look at LASIK or corrective procedures once their prescription stabilizes.
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Right now, she's focused on rehab for the wrist, but the vision issues remain a hurdle for her collegiate career at Miami. You can have the best wrist in the world, but if you can’t see the line on a breaking putt, you aren't winning many trophies in the ACC.
Why Vision Matters in the "Trump Swing"
Kai has a high-speed, modern swing. It’s powerful. But experts who analyze her film—like the guys at Lion Golf Academy—note that her "feel" around the greens is her x-factor.
- Depth Perception: Without it, you can't judge distance on lag putts.
- Targeting: If the eye with astigmatism is your dominant eye, your alignment will be off.
- Confidence: If you don't trust what you see, you won't commit to the stroke.
What This Means for Her University of Miami Career
Kai is set to join the Hurricanes in the fall of 2026. The competition in D1 golf is brutal. It’s not just about being "good"; it’s about being precise.
Most people think her biggest challenge is the pressure of her name. I’d argue it’s actually her health. Between the kai trump golf vision issues and the recovery from a major wrist operation, her "off-season" has been more about medical offices than the driving range.
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If she can get her eyesight locked in—whether through better contact technology or future corrective surgery—she has the raw talent to be a top-tier collegiate player. She’s already shown she can handle the nerves. Improving by eight strokes between round one and round two at the LPGA event proves she has the mental toughness. She just needs her body to cooperate.
Actionable Steps for Golfers with Similar Issues
If you're struggling with similar vision problems on the course, don't just "play through it" like Kai tried to do at first.
- Get a Sports-Specific Eye Exam: Standard exams don't always account for how you look at a ball on the ground versus a chart on a wall.
- Check Your Dominant Eye: If your vision is worse in your dominant eye, your putting alignment is almost certainly wrong.
- Consider High-Contrast Lenses: Brands like Oakley (Prizm) make lenses specifically designed to help golfers see the "grain" of the grass.
- Don't Fear the Glasses: If contacts aren't working for your astigmatism, specialized sports glasses can be more stable during a high-velocity swing.
Kai Trump's journey back to the course in 2026 will be one of the most-watched stories in amateur golf. Watching how she balances her wrist rehab with her ongoing vision correction will tell us a lot about her future as a pro.