 He came to the fore, however, with his 1977 win in the Marlboro Masters.Lazarenko was one of the sixteen players who defected from the BDO to form the PDC.Although he managed to maintain his popularity with the fans, he never managed to repeat his performances in the PDC World Darts Championship, with several first-round exits to his name, and only managing a quarter-final at best in 1999.