Lardner turned professional in 1991. In
1999, at the age of 26, Lardner reached the first round of the
World Snooker Championship by defeating
Neal Foulds,
Quinten Hann and
Martin Clark in the qualifying rounds. In his first round match against world number 9
Stephen Lee, Lardner trailed 3–9 before recovering to lose only 7–10. Despite the defeat, he described the
Crucible Theatre as "the best place I've ever played snooker". The following season, Lardner climbed to position 72 in the world rankings, and reached the first round of the
UK Championship, losing to
David Gray. He also achieved his best ranking tournament finish by reaching the last 16 of the
Thailand Masters in March 2000, beating
Fergal O'Brien in the last 32 before being defeated by
Ken Doherty. However, he was defeated in the qualifying rounds of the World Championship to Icelandic player
Kristján Helgason. His world ranking climbed to 67 for the 2000/2001 season. ==Tournament Wins==