In 2013, Howell had his first European Tour win in seven years at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, beating American Peter Uihlein in a playoff.

In 2014, Howell became the second youngest player in history to reach 500 appearances on European Tour when he played at the Open de France.

[4] Howell won the Beko Classic, a tournament sanctioned by the PGAs of Europe, by 5 shots after rounds of 70, 69 and 67 at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal in Turkey in 2015.

[7] At the Nordea Masters in August 2018, Howell became just the tenth player in the European Tour's history to reach 600 career appearances.

In 2014, Howell was named as part of a five-man selection panel deciding Europe's 2016 Ryder Cup captain.

In January 2017, it was announced that Howell had been voted unanimously to succeed Thomas Bjørn as chairman of the European Tour's Tournament Committee.

[10] In August 2022 at the Cazoo Classic, Howell became just the third player, after Sam Torrence and Miguel Ángel Jiménez, to reach 700 career appearances on the European Tour and the youngest to ever do so.

[11] He surpassed Jiménez for most European Tour starts at the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Howell's 722nd event.