Slocum notched four consecutive birdies from the 13th hole en route to a second straight five-under-par 65 in ideal conditions at Sedgefield.
He joined fellow American Scott Langley (65) at 10-under 130, one stroke ahead of compatriots Andrew Svoboda, Nick Watney and Brian Stuard and Scot Martin Laird.
First round leader Camilo Villegas of Colombia was among a group two shots behind on a packed leaderboard with 20 players bunched within three strokes.
Slocum is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour who attended the same Florida high school as two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson and fan favourite Boo Weekley.
“I had a little stretch that I made some good iron shots but also made really quality putts to cap those off,” Slocum told reporters.
The 40-year-old is coming off a couple of “rough years”. He lost his card after a woeful 2012 season and has not been much better this season, 158th on the tour ranking, but everything came together over the first 36 holes this week.
“I’ve made a lot of progress this year and played some of the best golf at times that I have, but I haven’t put (everything) together,” he said.
“The last few days it’s all kind of clicked. Maybe I just finally have let go and got out of my own way.”
Langley, who is having a solid season, birdied his final two holes to tie for the lead.
“I gave myself a tonne of opportunities to make birdies,” said Langley, who had six of them. “I made a nice adjustment to my (putting) grip earlier in the week and it’s worked pretty well so far.”
American Bill Haas was four shots behind after a 66 that included a bizarre double-bogey at the final hole, where his tee shot struck a spectator and ricocheted out-of-bounds.
Seventy-eight players made the cut, which fell at two-under 138. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, the highest world ranked player in the field, missed a six-foot putt to fail by one stroke to make the cut.
(Editing by Gene Cherry)
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