New for 2013 was the "Final Series", consisting of the final four tournaments of the season: BMW Masters, WGC-HSBC Champions, Turkish Airlines Open, and DP World Tour Championship, Dubai; with a requirement to play in two of the first three in order to compete in the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

In a change to the European Tour's membership criteria, from 2013 the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and Seve Trophy were included in the 13-event minimum requirement.

The move was seen as an attempt to retain leading European players based in the United States on the PGA Tour, and attract top Americans to join the tour.

[2] The following table lists official events during the 2013 season.

The Race to Dubai was based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.