The reason I ask is, because at some point it wasn't... That's the only way it could have gotten that flat spot and discolored so badly from heat. The cam has a nice uniform wear pattern, with no signs of spalling that I can see in the pic. What does the other side of the bad lobe look like?
Do you have the bad lifter? It would be interesting to take it apart and look at the roller and pin.
Do you have the bad lifter? It would be interesting to take it apart and look at the roller and pin.